J-Law crowned in Seattle
Published: 30th April 2008
Author: Pondo
Reed almost has his hands on his title, but he’s not there yet…
Jason Lawrence did enough in Seattle to clinch the West Coast Lites championship, whilst Reed endured a torrid night - but the Aussie is almost home after an incredible rollercoaster ride of a Supercross season…
For Lawrence, heading into Seattle with a six point gap over Ryan Dungey, the game plan was simple - if he got close enough to the young Makita Suzuki rider, the title was his. For Dungey, it was in the lap of the gods - a decent start was soon converted into the lead, and he began to gap the field. But unfortunately for him, Lawrence was carving his way through the pack on his YoT Yamaha, taking five laps to get into second place, and once he was there it was just a matter of bringing it home for the silverware and the trophy girls. Dungey did all he could on the night, notching another win in his first full Supercross series - the 2008 title may have eluded him, but there’ll be championship crowns in the future for this one. Brett Metcalfe had third place in his grasp, but a fired-up Broc Hepler - now trained by the same Ryan Hughes who was J-Law’s trainer until recently - got close enough for a last-ditch centre-punch that left Metty on the floor and won the factory Yamaha rider the last step on the podium.
With one round left in the Supercross championship, if Chad Reed can close the season out and take the crown, he can look back with justifiable pride at his indomitable ride in Seattle. The San Manuel Yamaha rider, still on the mend from a nasty shoulder injury, went down in turn one of the main and spent the whole race playing catch-up. Kevin Windham looked to have things turning his way as he got out well, soon passing Honda team-mate Andrew Short and pulling away in the lead, but an off-track excursion sucked a banner into his back wheel, necessitating a stop to uncoil it. The stop dropped him to fifth, but K-Dub immediately began making inroads on the leaders, although there were less than three laps to go before he resumed the lead. Unfortunately for Windham, however, Reed was smashing his way through the pack - by the time the white flag flew, he was on Short’s back wheel and looking for a way through. He found a rough way past, but Short was having none of it and returned the favour straight away. Reed had enough to get by Shorty before the finish, but he was not a happy man - the pressure, maybe, is taking it’s toll…
One round left - sixth or higher will give Reed the title no matter what Windham does, and only a crazy man would bet against him finishing any lower than the podium. For the Lites boys, it’s the big shootout - East meets West to see who’s the faster…
One week after the washout of Bellpuig, the Grand Prix season showed signs of returning to a more normal state of affair. In MX2, reigning champion Antonio Cairoli showed signs of returning to awesome form, the Sicilian charging to a brace of unmolested moto wins ahead of KTM’s two-pronged attack - Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle swapped second and third places, with the South African getting the nod due to his better second moto. Searle’s podium was just the highlight on a great day for the Brtis - Stephen Sword is approaching his brilliant best after two horrific injury-ridden years, garnering fourth overall, whilst Carl Nunn had a great ride in moto two, starting at the front and holding on to seventh at the finish. Shaun Simpson followed Nunny over the line after just missing the points in the first race, whilst Elliot Banks-Browne not only qualified, but logged two points-scoring rides when it mattered. Happy days…
David Philippaerts and Sebastien Pourcel swapped wins and seconds in the MX1 class - Seba would take the overall on the day, but Philippaerts was overjoyed to take the championship lead. The red plate holder going into Portugal was Ken De Dycker, but the big man had a nightmare day, riding with an injured hand and unable to stay on the Suzuki - his team mate, reigning champion Steve Ramon, logged a typically anonymous day, for fifth overall after his 2007 rival Josh Coppins mugged him late on in moto two. For Josh, it marks the real start of his championship bid, as his damaged foot is getting to a point where he can ride nearer to his potential. Speaking of potential, Billy Mackenzie lead both motos in Portugal - the young Scot has the pace to challenge for GPs this year, if he can stay on the bike.
The World Championships wasn’t the only series hoping for a break with the weather - the DEP Pipes 2 Stroke British Championship went to Landrake at the weekend, and found some glorious sun after the Canada Heights blizzard of a fortnight ago. In the 125s, Jonathan Pettitt was the absolute class of the field winning all three motos, including a push from well down the top ten in race two - the only rider to show signs of being able to challenge Pettitt is David Willet. Willet, the reigning 125 Champion, had a day marked by bad luck, with a DNF marring what would have been a strong second overall - in his place, Jack Brunell came out one step ahead of a tussle with Jim Davies for second and third overall, Lewis Tombs and Ricky Lethaby were fourth and fifth ahead of Greg Hanson, who was a British Champion before many of his competitors were born…
In the Open class, is was a two-man show - Mark Eastwood and Dave Willet (in his second class of the day) put on a fantastic display, super-quick and consistant. Eastwood it was who took the first two motos, and it was hard to see him being beaten, but Willet came out for moto three absolutely ready to rock after his second DNF of the day put a dent in his title aspirations. 2007 champion Eastwood led from the start but Ironman Willet was soon into second, edging slowly up to the back tyre of Easto’s Honda - it took a few laps for Willet, having a stab here and a move there, to actually make a pass stick, and it seemed like the crafty Eastwood was just biding his time before counterattacking. But Willet was on the limit and managed to grow the gap between himself and the reigning champ, taking an enthralling win - some small consolation on an otherwise disappointing day for the man.