Cooler weather and a well-groomed track awaited the Lucas Oil AMA 250cc MX Pro riders at Steel City Raceway outside Delmont, Pennsylvania, over the Labor Day Weekend. E3 Motorcycle Spark Plugs fans lined the fence early to watch another great battle for the AMA Lites national championship. The day was overcast early, sunny late and long sleeve weather all day. Oklahoma’s Trey Canard trailed former 250cc World Champion Christophe Pourcel by 13 points coming into the eleventh round of the 2010 AMA Pro MX Lites season. But, the Frenchman came to Delmont with a spectacular win in the final moto of last week’s national at Unadilla, NY, where Pourcel put on a late charge and blasted past Canard with two laps to go.
Geico Powersports Honda rider Trey Canard celebrates his 1-1 finishes with the fans at Steel City Raceway outside Delmont, Pennsylvania, over Labor Day Weekend in the Lucas Oil 250cc Lites National Championship. He now trails Pourcel by 7 points for the 2010 outdoor national title. Photo courtesy of http://motocross.transworld.net/
Grand Marshal for this year’s Steel City National was fan favorite and former Lites national champion Timmy Ferry. Ferry had the crowd cheering as he and his son Evan took a farewell lap aboard the #15 factory Kawasaki before the start. When the gate dropped on Moto One, Monster Engery/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray took the lead with teammate Pourcel close behind. Honda’s Canard was riding just inside the top ten early on but would mount a charge through the pack to catch and pass Pourcel for the win. Pourcel would finish in second place in Moto One ahead of Rattray and Geico Powersports Honda rider Eli Tomac.
In Moto Two, a couple of rookie 250 Lites riders, Pro Circuit’s Dean Wilson and Honda’s Eli Tomac, blasted to the lead off the starting line. Wilson would get the better of Tomac before the end of lap one and looked to be in control of the race. Geico Powersports Honda rider Canard was running in fifth behind Yamaha’s Nico Izzi and Suzuki’s Wil Hahn. Kawasaki rider Rattray was holding off Honda’s Justin Barcia who was holding off the Kawasaki of points leader Christophe Pourcel. By mid race, Canard and Pourcel had passed Wilson and the race was on. Canard (who never bobbled) and Pourcel (who never let up) put on a show for the E3 Sparks Plugs Racing fans.
Pourcel would set the fastest lap of the race late in Moto Two but Canard was almost flawless and never gave the Kawasaki rider a chance to pass. For the last five minutes of the moto, the two championship contenders battled as though it was the last lap of the race. Each showed great respect for the other by keeping the racing very clean. As the championship contenders caught race leader Dean Wilson, Wilson showed his respect for the senior Lites riders and let both Canard and Pourcel past. You could sense the tension in the Honda camp as everyone knew Canard would need to win points over Pourcel at Steel City to have a realistic shot at the national championship in Pala, CA next weekend.
Canard’s lane choices and his ability to jump the triple later in the race allowed him to hold off Pourcel for the moto win and first overall at Delmont. Pourcel would finish in second for the moto and second for the day which helped to minimiz the damage to his point’s lead. Canard now trails Pourcel by seven points for the AMA Lucas Oil Outdoor MX championship as teams travel west this week to race the newest venue on the schedule, Pala Raceway outside San Deigo, CA. If you are looking for Pro Performance from your bike, insist upon E3 Motorcycle Spark Plugs for street bike, dirt bike or chopper. E3 delivers the Energy, Efficiency and Ecology needed for today’s high performance engines.
2010 LUCAS OIL AMA MOTOCROSS PRO MX CHAMPIONSHIP
AMA 250cc MX – Steel City Raceway MX (Round 11)
Trey Canard, Shawnee, OK., Honda (1-1)
Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (2,2)
Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (3,4)
Eli Tomac, Cortez, CO, Honda (4,5)
Broc Tickle, Holly, MI, Yamaha (7,8)
Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, GA, Honda (10,6)
Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, TX, Honda (9,7)
Wil Hahn, Rupert, Decatur, TX,Honda (5,11)
Dean Wilson, Canada, Kawasaki (17,3)
Darryn Durham, Murietta, CA, Honda (8,10)
AMA 250CC MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki 443
Trey Canard, Shawnee, OK, Honda -7
Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki -41
Dean Wilson, Canada, Kawasaki -56
Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, GA, Honda -126
Eli Tomac, Cortez, CO, Honda -147
Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, TX, Honda -159
Broc Tickle, Holly, MI Yamaha -184
Martin Davalos, Ecuador, Yamaha -214
Wil Hahn, Rupert, Decatur, TX,Honda -258
