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W est ern Four-St r oke Nationals
Round 3: Victorville Motocross Complex
PHO TOS BY CH R IS MULTNER
The New Kid In Town
By BOBBY MYERS AND JAY PERKINS
VICTORVILLE, CA, APR. 24-25
T
he highlyanticipated showdown in the high
desert of Victorville, California - site of
round three of the Western Four-Stroke
Nationals - didn't disappoint; in fact, it probably
surpassed everyone's expectations. The Pre mier class featured 15-year-old MX prodigy
Mike Alessi going head to head with seasoned
veteran Ryan "Ryno" Hughes .
Both Hughes and Alessi won their qualifiers,
turning almost identical lap times ~ a hint of
t hings to come. Many of the regular Western
Four-Stroke racers were spectators during the
qualifiers, since the top lOin the standings and
former champions don't have to qua lify, so guys
such as Jason McCormick, Gerrit Orde lrnan,
Bra ndon Morgan. Mike Corder a nd Matt
Karlsen were resting up for the two 25 rninute-p lus-two-Iap motos - and wondering
how Hughes and Alessi would do . Chris
Gosselaar was present , on the Factory
Connection Amsoil Honda CRF250 . Sean
Hamb lin was also on hand.
In mota one, Alessi blasted out of the gate
to a gargantuan holeshot and proceeded to
check out early, leading a veritable sea of red
Hondas around the fast motocross track .
Hughes, on his Red Bull KTM 450. had other
ideas , and he quickly distanced himse lf from
the pack as he set off after Alessi. Though
Alessi set a very fast pace, Hughes pulled up on
Alessi's rear tire several times and was never
more than a second or two behind the leade r
for the first few laps. Shane Bess, the winne r of
t he previous rou nd , was run ning th ird ,
followed by McCormick.
Several laps in, Hughes was gaining ground,
looking strong and in control, but whenever
Hughes wou ld get close , Alessi would pull out
a small lead. At halfway, Alessi had a two- or
three-second lead on Hughes . Bess was abou t
45 seconds back.
On the last few laps, Hughes was catching
up to Alessi, and lapped traffic was taking a to ll
on Alessi's lead. It came down to the wire , but
Alessi won. with Hughes just a bikelength or
two be hin d . Bess was third , mo re than a
minute back. Alessi and Hughes had bot h
lapped up to fourth place, which was occ upied
by Gosselaar.
The start of mota two was almost a carbon
copy of the first mota , with one nota b le
exception : A high-speed first-turn pile-up had
riders scrambling to remount. Amazingly,
nobody was seriously Injured . Alessi promptly
set a blistering pace that could onry have been
matched by Hughes. Unfortu nate ly, Ryno was
caught in the middle of that first-turn melee,
which a lso incl ud e d Gosselaar and Bess .
Hughes was near the back of the pack, at least a
minute behind Alessi, when he finally got going.
Meanwhile , McCormick was running a
strong second , w ith Shane Smith and Ross
Garcia running third and fourth . Alessi easily
checked out , looking impressive while catching
huge air off the grandstand jumps . Equally
impressive was Ryno, who was passing riders
like a man possessed. Impossibly, he jammed
his way up into second place, stuffing his
Mike Alessi came to
Victorville for round three of
the Western Fa u r-St roke
Nationals and w on four o ut
af faur motas and bath
classes overall.
teammate McCormick in the process.
By the n, though , the race was almost
complete, and his anticipated secondmota showdown w ith Aless i never
mate rialized. Corder and Ordelman
rounded out the top five.
Alessi also pulled two fa ntastic
ho leshots in the 250F class and rode
them to wins in both mores. Gosselaar
gave him a run for the money in mota
two, staying within a second or two of
the leader, and placed second overall.
This weekend, it was apparent that
Alessi, the "new kid in town ," has what
it takes to run at a winning pace among
eN
the Pros.
VICTORVIW MOTOCROSS COMPLEX
VICTORVILLE, CAUFORNIA
RESULTS: APRIL 24-2 5 , 2004 (ROUND 3)
150F: I . Mike Alessi (Hon) ; 2. Chris Gosselaar (Hen ); 3.
Brandon Morgan (Ho n); 4. Gerrit O rdet man (Hon); 5. Hatt
Karlsen (Hon) . PR EM: I. Mike AJes.si (Hon) ; 2. Ryan Hughes
(KTM) ; 3. J""'" M