Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 22 JUNE 3, 2014 P61 not enough. Stewart still suf- fered from bike setup issues and just couldn't quite hang with the frontrunners. He ran fifth for most of the first moto, briefly held fourth when he passed Metcalfe but lost it after Barcia got him. Still, Stewart was well off the lead pace and wasn't the Stewart ev- eryone was expecting. Moto two went a little better for Stewart, though. He went from sixth to third but was still well behind the KTMs and was in danger of losing third to Canard at the end. It was, however, his best race since the series start- ed. Afterward, the team admit- ted that they are still struggling with bike set up. In the big picture, however, Stewart is riding smart. He's not charging and risking a big crash on a bike that he's not complete- ly comfortable with. The Stewart of old would have pushed it re- gardless of the bike, risking in- jury and championship points, but not anymore. With a 6-4 so far this season, he is still very much in title contention, but he and the Yoshimura team have to get things sorted out quickly be- fore the two Red Bull KTMs get away. Tasting Victory Up until the third moto of the season, three different riders — Josh Grant, Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey — have led a moto in the 450 class, but two more names were added to the list in the second 450 moto at Hang- town. Both Brett Metcalfe and Justin Barcia tasted what it's like to be up front, with Metcalfe of- ficially holding the point position for three laps and Barcia one lap early in the moto, but neither rider could stay in contention for the lead for very long. Met- calfe eventually slipped back to ninth (after getting bumped by a passing Canard) and Barcia fifth. Metcalfe ended up going 6-9 for eighth overall, and Barcia 4-5 for fifth overall. Briefly... "In the first moto I got pinched off in the start," Bisceglia said. "I didn't do well in practice, so I got a horrible gate pick right on the inside. I think I was in 25th or 30th after the start but I was able to come back to 13th. I was happy to be able to get back up in the pack. In the second moto I got a better start and I rode in fourth for a while. I felt like my speed and my times were really good until about the halfway point. After halfway, I got pretty hot and faded back a little bit. I'm happy with how the first part of the race went, but I need to work on the second half of the race and im- prove my time. Once I get the sec- ond half of the race down, I think I will be in good shape to bring in top- five finishes every week." Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jake Weimer had a pretty good day. He grabbed the second-moto 450-class holeshot and ended up seventh overall. "I need to work on my in- tensity early in the motos," admitted Weimer. "Getting the holeshot was great, but it took me a few laps to get into my groove and that's what cost me." For the second week in a row, Dis- count Tire/TwoTwo Motorsport Ka- wasaki's Chad Reed squeaked into the 450-class top 10 overall with 11-12 moto finishes. He's been struggling with his starts (ninth in the first moto and 17 th in the second moto) and, ac- cording to his team, is still trying to get back up to race pace and fitness from his early-season injuries. Ever since winning the first 450 moto at Glen Helen, Toyota/N-Fab/ JGRMX/Yamaha's Josh Grant has been having difficulties finding that continued on next page