August 29, 2008
Southwick, MA - If you’re going to ride at Southwick, you better be prepared for two things: sand, and hot, humid weather. Together they team up to suck the power out of the biggest bikes and the strongest riders. And that’s precisely the reason Southwick is so popular - it’s a track where anything can happen, where a sand specialist often comes out of nowhere to win, and where even a national champion might fade and fall back as the heat takes its toll.
This year Southwick is the next-to-last race of the season (Steel City next weekend closes out the year). Sure, the MX and MX Lites championships have unofficially already been decided, but the rest of the spots are still up for grabs, and the racers came to Southwick ready for a tough fight.
With Ben Townley out due to injury, American Honda made an arrangement with the Italian Honda Martin team to bring in “The Flying Dutchman”, Marc de Reuver as a replacement rider. If you’ve ever been to the Netherlands, you know that MX riding there means sand—and lots of it. So de Reuver looked like a perfect choice for Southwick’s sandy conditions.
He didn’t disappoint. In his first AMA start, de Reuver was eighth out of the gate and moved up steadily, gaining a position per lap for the first four circuits. By the end of the moto he was on the box—not bad for his first national!
Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco had just the opposite experience. Tedesco gated third—an excellent start—and held that position for the first five laps, when he was passed by de Reuver and dropped back to fourth. From that point on, though, Tedesco really began to suffer as the leaders got into lapped traffic, the humidity and exertion of riding in the deep sand really taking their toll. He was credited with 13th at the end of the first moto.
But it was Tedesco’s teammate, Andrew Short, who had the best moto of all. Short was second going into the first turn and never looked back, holding that position for the entire race. With two Hondas on the podium for moto one, (Short and de Reuver), the day was looking good.
Moto Two
The second moto wasn’t so kind to the Red Riders. De Reuver started ninth, Tedesco 17th, and Short 30th. De Reuver made his way into eighth, but was clearly whipped by the heat and the rough track—he later said he nearly threw up in his helmet. He fell after five laps and then pulled off the track, his day finished.
Tedesco and Short both started working their way up, with Short actually breaking into the top ten and Tedesco finishing 13th. The points are important for Short, as he’s in a tough battle for second overall for the season—that decision is going to come down to Steel City. Short’s 2-9 finishes gave him fourth overall for the day, with de Reuver tenth and Tedesco 12th.
Lites
In the first moto of the Lites class, it was Honda’s Blake Wharton who nailed the holeshot, followed by his teammate Jake Weimer. This was only Wharton’s third AMA MX moto, and he held the lead for the first four laps. Wharton finished the moto in fourth, with Weimer sixth. Dan Reardon, the third team rider, started his moto tenth and finished eighth.
In moto two, though, Both Wharton and Weimer went down in a sizable first-turn pileup, but rejoined the race in 31st and 32nd, respectively. Weimer charged hard and actually cracked the top ten after that, placing ninth, just one spot behind Reardon. Weimer is still in fourth overall for season points.
Results and Standings
Motocross (Moto Finish)
1. James Stewart (KAW) 1-1
2. Cody Cooper (SUZ) 7-2
3. Tim Ferry (KAW) 4-4
4. Andrew Short (HONDA) 2-9
5. Sean Hamblin (YAM) 6-6
6. John Dowd (SUZ) 9-5
7. Jeff Alessi (HONDA) 8-8
8. Michael Byrne (SUZ) 11-7
9. Josh Hill (YAM) 37-3
10. Marc de Reuver (HONDA) 3-34
Motocross Class Point Standings
1. James Stewart (KAW) 550
2. Tim Ferry (KAW) 370
3. Andrew Short (HONDA) 362
4. Michael Byrne (SUZ) 341
5. Cody Cooper (SUZ) 266
6. Nick Wey (KTM) 246
7. Jeff Alessi (HONDA) 231
8. Mike Alessi (SUZ) 221
9. Josh Hill (YAM) 208
10. Davi Millsaps (HONDA) 203
Motocross Lites (Moto Finish)
1. Ryan Villopoto (KAW) 1-1
2. Ryan Dungey (SUZ) 3-2
3. Brett Metcalfe (KAW) 2-3
4. Kyle Chisholm (KAW) 5-5
5. Jake Weimer (HONDA) 6-9
6. Dan Reardon (HONDA) 8-8
7. Nico Izzi (SUZ) 11-7
8. Matt Lemoine (YAM) 7-12
9. Ryan Sipes (KTM) 38-4
10. Blake Wharton (HONDA) 4-28
Motocross Lites Point Standings
1.Ryan Villopoto (KAW) 535
2. Ryan Dungey (SUZ) 418
3. Brett Metcalfe (KAW) 347
4. Jake Weimer (HONDA) 286
5. Nico Izzi (SUZ) 254
6. Ryan Sipes (KTM) 210
7. Kyle Cunningham (HONDA) 191
8. Trey Canard (HONDA) 173
9. Josh Grant (HONDA) 173
10. Kyle Chisholm (KAW) 170
