MAMMOTH BIG BIKES RACE DAY 1
Author: John Parkinson	Features | Saturday, 27 June 2009 01:09

The big bikes hit the mountain yesterday and, as always, there was some good action that went down.  Like previous years, there's an endless list of blazing fast kids who have come to do battle here on the mountain.  The schoolboy class had a few eye opening turn of events from start to finish while there were some surprises in the pro class as well. Here's a recap of how the day of racing unfolded up here at Mammoth.

The first moto of the day was the first division of the Schoolboy class; Lance Vincent jumped out front and lead the way to the checkered flag.  Jessy Nelson was on the gas as well and got off to a 4th place start and found his way into 2nd by the end of the first lap.  He caught up to Vincent but was never close enough to make the pass for the lead.  In the second division Brad Frace was out front but Chris Plouffe took over early and road to the victory.  Where was Eli Tomac this moto? He got off to a 10th place start and was able to get around Frace for 2nd.

It was bound to be an awesome battle as the Schoolboy riders lined up for the main.  When the gate dropped, it was all Nelson out front with the holeshot. Tomac was sitting in the 3rd spot behind Frace who took off quick in 2nd.  Tomac was on the gas and pinned it past Frace to jump in behind Nelson. Tomac went into the next corner, grabbed too much throttle, did a full 360 and dropped into 3rd.  That small mistake didn't phase the Factory Connection backed rider  though, as he was quick to put the pressure back on Frace. Again, Tomac got around Frace and was applying the pressure on Nelson.  Tomac made his way around Nelson and checked out for his first win of the week. Vincent and Plouffe both were caught up in a first turn pile up and were kept out of the action for this moto.

 

 

Gannon Audette was of fire in the 450 class as he put it to the rest of his competition.

Nick Palluzi was on the pipe as well and was able to work his way forward from a bad start to finish up 2nd.

Bryce Vallee rode strong, putting his Yamaha in the 3rd spot.

Alexah Pearson put together two impressive rides of the week for the girls. She finished out with a  1-1.

Timmy Weigand was on the gas early on in the first moto, but a gnarly crash left him with a 4th place finish.

While battling for a top spot, Tommy Weeck was looking fresh in his new TLD gear.

Kyle Regal was looking good and was the only one to keep the pressure on Timmy. He made a mistake which gave the win to Baker in the first moto and left him out with a banged up foot for the second moto.

450 Pro Start: Moto 1

Travis Baker put in a consistent ride in the first moto and took the win.  It was looking good for Baker in the second moto as he was sitting in 4th, which would have been good enough for the overall. Unfortunately for Baker, with just a few laps left to go, he hit the ground and lost the overall.

Blake Baggett had a rough go at it in the first moto but the second moto was a different stroy.  Baggett started in about 8th and by the time the race was over he had moved into the lead and put a big gap on 2nd place, Timmy Weigand.

Tyler Sjoberg had two good motos. In the first moto he was running in 4th until he blew over a berm and lost quite a few positions.  In the second moto, he and his trainer Timmy Weigand had a nice battle going on for the lead. Tyler eventually fell back to 3rd, but overall put together a strong ride.

Weigand finally got the bear he has been waiting for.  He and his son (shown above) show off their bears together.