Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Jake Weimer (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)
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Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki had a dominating performance at Thunder Valley Raceway in Lakewood, Colo. as Jake Weimer earned his first career 250 class overall win with his teammate Christophe Pourcel finishing second. Tyla Rattray finished ninth overall. In the 450 class, Canidae/Motosport/Kawasaki’s Tommy Hahn earned his first career podium finish while Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich was seventh overall and Timmy Ferry was 17th.
First Time on Top
Weimer rode two solid motos to earn his first career motocross win, finishing second in the first moto and first in the second moto. In both motos, the Idaho native got great jumps out of the gate and rode smooth for the overall victory.
“This is something huge for me,” said Weimer. “It seems I expect supercross wins, but an outdoor win is something I didn’t know if I would ever get. The race was really good. I got the starts I needed and rode well in both motos.”
Championship Lead
Pourcel continued his streak of perfect first motos taking the holeshot and the win at Thunder Valley. In the second moto, a problem with his gate had him last heading into the first turn, but by the end of the first lap the Frenchman was already up to 17th. He continued to move his way through the pack finishing sixth in the second moto and earning second overall. He also scored enough points to stretch his championship lead to nine points.
“I’m pretty pumped to get the podium today,” said Pourcel. “I’m wery happy and I feel really good with the Kawasaki. I’ve struggled in the second moto this year and today I was 40th so my goal was to ride really fast and finish as high as I could. That’s what I did and I got on the podium. My stomach is felling better, and since it was cooler it didn’t bother me as much.
Podium Finish
After finishing seventh in the first moto, Hahn rode a daring race in the second moto battling for the runner-up spot nearly the entire 15 laps. The fight paid off as he was able to earn his first career podium finish in the 450 class with a third-place overall.
“I just kept charging that second moto,” said Hahn. “I didn’t know where I stood in the overall. I just wanted to do the best I could. I’m really glad to get up on the podium for my Canidae/Motosport/Kawasaki team.”
First Time Under the Lights
The night event at Thunder Valley made for great racing with cooler temperatures. For Rattray, it was his first time racing an outdoor national at night and he thought the event was great.
“I’ve never raced a motocross under the lights,” said Rattray. “I really enjoyed it. They did a great job on the track. There were some good lines and you could see pretty well. There were a couple of spots where it was a little dark, but I really liked it.”
