VOL. 50 ISSUE 30 JULY 30, 2013
P39
Briefly...
Mike Alessi was back in action after a miserable week of bad press
and finger-pointing that took place
after the "LaserGate" fiasco following last week's Washougal race.
The MotoConcepts team paid the
fine set forth by MX Sports and
brought their rig to Millville minus a
few members, most notably Alessi's
father/team manager, Tony Alessi,
who was suspended for the rest of
the season. Alessi, who won the
first moto here last year, had a quiet
day with 11-6 scores. Alessi would
not comment on the incident that
saw his brother, Jeff, aim a laser at
Ryan Villopoto just as the starting
gate dropped in the first moto.
BY DAVE DERINGER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE COX
O
n an unseasonally chilly
day in the upper Midwest,
Yoshimura Suzuki's James
Stewart captured his first outdoor
win of the season and his first
overall win in more than a year.
Stewart took the first-moto win after an incredible battle with Honda
Muscle Milk teammates Trey Canard and Justin Barcia for much of
the race.
Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey
had some issues in the first moto
and finished fifth, but he bounced
back with a victory in the second moto but it wasn't enough to
keep his five-race win streak alive
at Spring Creek. The overall win
would ultimately be decided be-
tween Stewart and Canard.
Like in the first moto, Stewart
and Canard went at it again in the
second moto and had a great,
crowd-pleasing battle that ended
in Canard's favor. Although Canard won the battle, he lost the
war to Stewart, with Stewart's 1-3
edging out Canard's 2-2 (based
on points).
"This is definitely a special win
and one I won't forget," Stewart
said. "It's been getting better and
better lately, and I feel like everything is coming together."
Series points leader Ryan Villopoto, however, had a tough day.
He crashed hard on the first lap of
the first moto and was a non-factor for the win the remainder of the
day. He battled hard both times
out but little mistakes here and
At the next round, Eli Tomac will
sport the red plate (signifying the
class points leader) for the first time
in three years. Tomac won in his
rookie debut at Hangtown but surrendered the red plate the following
week in Texas, and he hasn't worn
it since – until now.
Muscle Milk Honda riders Justin
Barcia and Trey Canard went
away from their regular hydraulic
clutches at Millville and went back
to the traditional cable-actuated
clutches. "We went back to the
standard cable clutches today,"
Canard said. "I like the feel and
characteristics of it a little better
and we both got good starts today,
so that may say something, too."
In the "Huh?" department, the
French Federation named its Motocross of Nations team and missing
from that list was U.S. transplant
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