Kawasaki’s Weimer Remains Perfect After Anaheim II

2010-01-25 17:51
Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Jake Weimer had another great night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. as he won his heat race and the supercross lites main event for the third straight week. Josh Hansen also won his heat race, blasted out to the holeshot in the main and eventually finished fourth. In the supercross class, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto finished seventh.

Weimer’s victory marks his third win of the season as well as his fourth win in the last five races at Angel Stadium. Weimer hasn’t thought about any type of streak as he is focusing on one race at a time.

“Winning three in a row is special,” said Weimer. “You ride during the week just thinking about the race on Saturday. You can’t think about what happened last week or what is coming up a couple of weeks down the road. I’ve been able to stay focused on what I’m doing and obviously, I’m super happy. There is nothing better than winning and putting your team on the top of the podium.”

Hansen came back from two tough finishes to score his first top five of the season. Once again he rocketed out to the holeshot and then fought hard to stay near the front.

“I had another great start,” said Hansen. “I was scared of crashing a little bit, because of the first two races. I was fast enough, but I tightened up bad and I just worked to finish the race. I’ve had the holeshot twice now and I’m one of the fastest guys in every practice. This is like a new start for me. I’ve got a finish under my belt and I’m good to go for the rest of the season. I’m ready to get it rolling.”

Villopoto came into the main event with a good gate choice after finishing second in his heat race. When the gate dropped he got a good jump, but as the field came to the tight first corner, Villopoto was squeezed from both sides and ended up coming out in 12th place. The 21-year-old sophomore rider worked his way as best he could through the field and eventually settled into seventh place.

“I got an okay start to the first turn,” said Villopoto. “I got chopped off in the first corner and ended up way back. It was tight and the guys on the inside squeezed out, while the guys on the outside squeezed in. It was a mess after the first turn. I tried to salvage what I could, and finished seventh. It’s not the finish I wanted. I need to make my passes better. I did get some points tonight and I’ll be ready for San Francisco.”

With nearly half the season in the books for the West Coast lites riders, Weimer continues to keep his eye on his season goal.

“The championship is the ultimate goal,” said Weimer. “You just never know in racing. You can never count on something happening. The only time you can count on something is when the checkered flag is flying and you’re done. I’m setting myself up well for the title and I can’t ask for more.”

Hansen is still looking for his first win of 2010, but he knows it’s just around the corner. He has twice won his heat race, and has grabbed the holeshot in the last two main events to show he has the speed to be on the top of the box.

“Finishing fourth isn’t a bad thing,” said Hansen. “I faded a little bit at the end and there are some things I need to work on. I’m not far off the map and I’m definitely a person who can win. I just need to do a couple of things different to get where I need to be.”

With all the rain in Southern California in the week leading up to the race, Weimer could have easily taken some time off before heading to the stadium. Instead the Idaho native braved the weather and even put in some mud work to make sure he was ready for whatever the track could throw at him.

“Riding this week definitely didn’t hurt,” said Weimer. “It’s always good to practice and get on the bike. I even made sure I rode in the mud, because we expected it to be muddy. I wanted to stay in my routine as best as I could. If something is working, you don’t change it.”

With approximately 7.5 inches of rain falling in Anaheim during the week, Saturday turned out to be a sunny day with a nearly perfect track. The Dirt Wurx crew that builds the track worked overtime to beat the rain early in the week and then covered the entire floor to keep the water out. When the teams went out for track walk, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see a track that featured some of the best dirt Anaheim has ever seen.

“I was absolutely blown away by the condition of the track,” said Weimer. “Dirt Wurx did an amazing job this week. It rained hard for six days and the track was so good.”

“With all the rain we had it is unbelievable we even had a race today,” said Hansen. “The track was incredible, it was like we didn’t have any rain at all. Dirt Wurx did a great job.”

Source: Monster Energy Kawasaki

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