VOL. 50 ISSUE 21 MAY 29, 2013
to mention getting good starts were the keys to his success on
this day. "I got good starts and
had good line choices," Villopoto
said. "The track was rough and I
had to be patient making passes.
We got a pair of wins today and
mac
do
we're really going to try to keep
it rolling."
On the flip side, GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac took the wind out
of Ken Roczen's sails a bit after
an impressive see-ya-later performance in the second 250cc
Justin Barcia
(51) holeshot
both 450
motos but
couldn't
capitalize on
them.
P51
Briefly...
TwoTwo
Motorsport/Honda's
Chad Reed was a rare non-factor
in this race. The former National
Champion was still feeling ill with
a virus, which also kept him out of
contention last week at Hangtown.
A fall in the first turn in the first moto
didn't help him any, either. He ended up 23-21 for 22nd overall.
GP stars Clement Desalle and
Kevin Strijbos used a break in
their championship to compete
at Lakewood. The Belgian teammates pitted under the Rockstar
Energy Racing canopy and placed
in the top 10. Desalle qualified second overall behind Ryan Villopoto
then raced to a 5-7 for sixth overall
score. Strijbos went 10-8 for ninth
overall. "I crashed on the start of
first moto and came from 38th to
10th," Strijbos said. "In the second
moto, I took too much time behind
Weimer and Wilson and then, once
I passed them, I was tired. This was
my first time racing in the USA so I
can be happy for a 10-8."
And what did Strijbos think of a
U.S. National? "I like that it is all
on one day and the track is big,"
he said. "Our races are two days
with practice and we have two
30-minute practices. Here there is
only two 15 minute ones so there is
not as much track time. But back
home we think too much and make
too many changes to the bikes.
Here there is no time to do that. It
is much bigger pits and fans here,
too. The riders at home are more
stressed and more closed to themselves and their teams, and they
don't go around and talk and intercontinued on next page
