Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1469337
"It was definitely a surprise to myself," said Dungey who posted 5-5 moto finishes for fifth overall. "I almost thought I was crazy for coming back, but you know, I wanted the chal- lenge. I'm excited to be here. The team did an awesome job today. This track was nasty. I was a little bit off the pace of course but that's okay. We've got to start somewhere, and we'll build from here." Two spots behind Dungey in the overall tally was his new teammate and fellow legend Antonio Cairoli, the 36-year- old from Italy. It was all new to Cairoli—the track, the one-day format, the dirt starting pad, the production-based bike. He ac- quitted himself well and seemed to gain knowledge and confi- dence as the day went on. "Here at Pala, it's a very nice debut for me," said Cairoli after his 10-6 moto finishes, during the second of which he held off a sustained attack by both Rockstar Husqvarna's Shane McElrath and Kawa- saki's Anderson. "Of course, it could be a little better without the crash in the first moto, but I was close to the top-five in both races. I'm really happy about how it went considering my fitness, I only started doing some race training two or three weeks ago. Before, I was just testing for the team and for R&D at KTM, so I didn't really have the plan until one month ago that I would race here. It was feeling a little bit like your mind wants to do it more but you're careful because this track was very sketchy and demanding so you need to just take whatever comes and we build up a little bit race after race." Cairoli will for sure race Hangtown this weekend, but he remains uncertain as to how long he will continue on the AMA circuit. 250MX In the 250MX class, the field is going to have to rethink their game plan after watching defending champ Jett Lawrence ride off into the distance in both motos. Lawrence never put a knobby wrong on the rutted and tricky Fox Raceway track and seemed to be in a class all his own en route to a 1-1 sweep. He did have to run down fast starter Nick Romano in the second moto, otherwise, Lawrence flat- out dominated. "[My] bike is hooking up out of the gate, giving me a lot bet- ter opportunities," Lawrence said. "Four times undefeated here is a good feeling, even though it's not one of my favor- ite tracks. It's awesome." The only rider even remotely close to him was his older brother and Honda HRC team- mate Hunter Lawrence, who went 2-2 but had to work a bit along the way, especially in the second moto when he needed to pass a stubborn Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ ROUND 1 / MAY 28, 2022 FOX RACEWAY / PALA, CALIFORNIA P78 LOOK-A-LIKES The day after the Pala National, Rick Johnson posted on Instagram a photo of Sexton from the Fox Raceway round alongside an early photo of Da- vid Bailey, both running number 23. PALA NOTES Rookie Nick Romano (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) showed great speed in the second 250cc moto when he led Jett Lawrence and the rest of the field for nearly two laps from the start before drifting back to 14th... Levi Kitchen was Star Yama- ha's top-placing 250cc rider in eighth overall... TLD/Red Bull/GasGas rider Michael Mosiman (9-4) worked hard for fifth overall in the 250cc class after suffering a hard crash in practice and going down early in the first moto... Bad starts (including being involved in a turn-two pileup with Jason Ander- son), kept Justin Barcia (8-9) out of the limelight all day... Antonio Cairoli, who fell in the first moto, was sport- ing a noticeable limp after the races... Chase Sexton set the quickest lap time in both 450MX motos; Ken Roc- zen was second quickest both times... In the 250MX class, Jo Shimoda had the quickest lap time in moto one; Jett Lawrence in moto two. Briefly... MOTOCROSS I LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP