MOTOCROSS
inside/outside move on a sweeping right
turn. Hepler then opened up a comfortable gap over the next four laps for the
win.
"I've been working on my starts really
hard, so I'm happy when I come out in the
top five, so I don't have to chase those
guys down," Hepler said. "I got it figured
out that it's a lot easier to get up to the
front."
With Hepler and Alessi going one-two
in the first moto, a trio of Pro Circuit riders - Langston, Walker and Tedesco would round out the top five, in that
order. Rookie Ryan Villopoto put in an
excellent performance, pulling a seventh
in the first moto.
It was more of the same at the start of
the second moto, with the featherweight
Alessi gunning his powerful KTM out to an
easy lead, only this time Hepler was even
closer on his heels, in third. Tedesco, who
had been pretty quiet in the first moto,
moved into second, behind Alessi. Short
made up for flinching at the start of the
first moto by breaking through a pack of
riders and right onto Hepler's rear tire.
Short even had an opportunity for a bit of
payback after he and Hepler's Budds
Creek get-together, but he let Hepler out
of the crosshairs, opting to keep it clean
and not clean out Hepler.
On lap five, Hepler caught and passed
Alessi, who was able to hold off Tedesco,
Short and a fast-moving Davi Millsaps for
another second place.
Hepler was the first Pennsylvania
native to win the Steel City National. eN
Sun
CITY RACEWAY
DELMONT, PENNSYlVANIA
IlEsws: 5EP1rMIER 4, 2005 IRotN> 11 Of 12)
125 MOTO I: I. Broc. Hepler (Suz); 2. Mike Alessi
Round 11
September 4,2005
~
AMA 12Scc Motocross Championship Series Presented by FMF
(KTM); 3. Grant L..angston (Kaw); -4. Matt Walker (Kaw); S.
Ivan Tedesco (Kaw); 6. Robe" Kiniry (Han); 7. Ryan
Villopoto (Kaw); 8. Ryan Sipes (Suz); 9. Brett Metcalfe
(Yam); 10. Davi Millsaps (Su.); I I. Thomas Hahn (Hon); 12.
Joaquim Rodrigues (Hon); 13. Ryan Mills (K'fM); 14. Paul
Carpenter (Kaw); IS. Jesse Casillas (Hon); 16. Steve
Boniface (Han); 17. Mike Brown (Han); 18. Jeff Alessi
(KTM); 19. Bilty laninovK:h (Han); 20. Andrew Short (Hon);
21. Danny Smith (Yam); 22. Ryan Mora;s (Su.); 23. Kyle
Chisholm (Kaw); 24. Akira Narita (Han); 25. Eric
McCrummen (Hoo); 26. Michael Sleeter (KTM); 27. Tucker
Hibbert (Han); 28. Richie Owens (Suz); 29. Robert Marshall
(Hon); 30. Thomas IvJdy (Hon); 3 I. Stephen Stella (Kaw);
32. Ryan Lockhart (Kaw); 33. Tommy Harrison (Hon); 34.
Nick Evennou (Hon); 35. Steve Roman (Yam); 36. Travis
Sewell (Yam): 37. Mitchell Dougherty (Kaw); 38. Michael
Blose (Hoo); 39. Jason lawrence (Suz); -40. Kevin Brodsky
(Sua).
125 MOTO 2: I. Broc Hepler (Suz); 2. Mike A)essi
(KTM); 3. Ivan Tede>poto (Kaw); 6. Davi Millsaps (Suz); 7. Ryan Sipes
(Suz); 8. Andrew Short (Han); 9. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hon);
10. Thomas Hahn (Hon); II. Matt Walker (Kaw): 12. Brett
Metcalre (Yam); 13. Mike Brown (Hon); 1-4. Jesse Casillas
(Han); 15. Ryan Mllb (KTM); 16. Robe" Kiniry (Hon); 17.
Jeff Alessi (KTM); 18. Paul CMpent... (Kaw); 19. Ryan
Morais (Suz); 20. Steve Boniface (Hoo); 21. Danny Smith
(Yam); 22. Akira Narita (Han); 23. Bilty laninovkh (Hon);
24. Eric McCrummen (Hon); 25. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw); 26.
Tucker Hibbert (Hoo); 27. Robert Marshall (Han); 28. Ntck
Evennou (Hoo); 29. Michael Blose (Han); 30. Ryan lockhart
(Kaw); 31. Stephen Stella (Kaw); 32. Michael Sleeter (KTM);
33. Thomas Addy (Hon); 34. Rkhie Owens (So2); 35.
Mitchell Dougherty (Kaw); 36. Travis Sewell (Yam); 37.
Steve Roman (Yam); 38. Tommy Harrison (Han); 39. Jason
lawrence (So2); 40. Kevin Brodsky (Suz).
125 AMA MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After II of 12
rounds): I. Ivan Tedesco (402/2 wins); 2. Mike Alessi
(36m >vins); 3. And"", Sho« (33611 >vin);'. Broc Hepler
(321n wins); 5. Grant langston (316/3 wins); 6. Mike
Brown (312/29611 win); 7. josh Grant (JOI); 8. Davi
Millsaps (268); 9. Matt Walker (224); 10. Paul Carpenter
(164); II. Danny Smith (163); 12. Kelly Smith (154); 13.
Thomas Hahn (132); 14. Ryan Sipes (131); 15. (TlE) Billy
laninovlchiJason lawrence (12-4); 17. Ryan Mills (122); 18.
Ryan Hughes (IOJ); 19. B,.tt Metcalfe (B6); 20. Nathan
Ramsey (80).
My
141
OWN RACE:
Steve Boniface
125cc
20th (16-39)
The French racer from the Samsung Wireless/Sprint/Honda team showed some signs of
greatness in the first moto, but he admitted that he needs to
be in better shape to run in the top I0 for two motos. "The
first moto, I had a really good start and had a good first hall
of the moto, running in second place," he said. "But I kind of
got a little bit tired halfway through, and you can't do that in
the I25cc class. Your lap times start to drop and everybody's coming back. The second moto, I had a so-so start
and crashed on the first lap, hurt my knee a little bit, so I
called it a day. Overall, it was good to be back [and] ride up front for a bit."
80 I
Jeff Alessi
17th (18-1 0)
The KfM rider continues to improve with every race, and he tumed in another top-10
moto finish. "I definitely rode my ass off today," he said. "I was tired but didn't want Desse]
Casillas to pass me. I kept chugging away, finding new lines that were better - guess I did it,
got 10th [in the second moto]. Now I've got to put together two 01 those, then move up
the ladder and try and get two top-lOs now. I've already got one top-10 at Millville, so I'm
almost there."
65
Ryan Sipes
7th (8-7)
Under David Bailey's watchful eye, the WBR/Suzuki racer put together an excellent weekend at Steel City. "This is an awesome track for me," he
~ said. "It's kind of like home - great dirt and everything. I felt
good in practice, even without my mechanic [Scott Budzynski, whose wife had a baby) here. So [WBR/Suzuki tearn
manager) Tony Sulek stepped in for him and did an awesome job. My bike was running really good. I tried to chase
down [Ryan) Villopoto, but that little dude's fast."
Andrew Short
8th (20-4)
Team Honda's factory I25cc pilot overcame a first-moto crash to post a solid finish in the
second moto. "The first moto, I flinched [off the start]," Short said. "By the time I got out,
~r::a:=~ I'd been held up and ended up like midpack. But I made
,.
some good moves, good decisions. got up to ninth - then
somebody threw a bale out in front of me and I hit it, and it
got stuck under my bike. Then my good old buddy [Davi]
Millsaps just cleaned me out, put me on the ground and finished me off - 20th's not too stellar. The second moto, I
lined up in the middle and it was pretty hard to get a good
start, but I came out good - kind of went backwards there in
the first few straightaways. I was riding in fifth, right behind
Villopoto, who was riding really good. I made it around him when he made a little mistake.
Then Millsaps almost caught me on the last lap. as did Villopoto. I was right on Ivan
[Tedesco]. It was a tough race; we had it pinned the whole time."
123
Brett Metcalfe
12th (9-16)
Yamaha of Troy's top finisher in the I25cc class was Aussie Brett Metcalfe. "The first moto
was good," he said. "I started around filth or sixth, which normally doesn't happen, so it
was nice to be up there in the front and be able to see the leaders a little bit. I rode a good
race, so I was happy with that. These last two weeks I've gotten a lot better on the bike.
It's coming. The second moto was kind of disappointing. I got a real bad start, and the first
couple laps were really messy - people were everywhere. I just couldn't get it together,
didn't have a good moto. Something I'll have to correct at Glen Helen."
122
Matt Walker
11th (4-34)
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Matt Walker was flying in both motos and had a
legitimate shot at the podium, only to auger in off a jump late in the second moto. "I had
good speed all weekend," he said. "The first moto was real good. I came out in second and
was chasing Mike Alessi when I cross-rutted off a double, and it shot me off the track. I had
to let Broc [Hepler] go by, otherwise they probably would have docked me. It's tough.
because you don't really know where to come back on the track. They put way too many
banners out there, so if you happen to go off the track, you wind up having to cut the
whole section and pray they don't dock you. But I let him [Hepler] by and just couldn't
make it stick. I had a real aggressive pass from my teammate that put me in fourth in the
first moto. The second moto, I was in ninth, working my way up to seventh and eighth
with two laps to go. then knocked myself out on a jump. I'm a little dizzy and nauseous at
the moment - doubtful for next weekend."
22
SEPTEMBER 14,2005 • CYCLE NEWS
