Jeff Alessi

Jeff Alessi’s drastically improved riding at the end of his amateur career played a vital role in his signing with Red Bull KTM, alongside his brother Mike, for his first professional motocross season. Due partially to the fact that he would not turn 16 until March of ’05, he elected to sit out the supercross series to prepare for the kick off of the outdoor nationals at Hangtown Raceway.

In his rookie season as a professional, Alessi had some ups-and-downs but was, once again, overshadowed by the success of his brother, who was battling with Ivan Tedesco for the championship. He actually competed in both, the 125 and 250 outdoor championships in 2005—although not simultaneously—a move not often seen in the ultra-competitive world of American motocross. He finished a season-best 17th aboard his KTM 450 and a posted a best finish of ninth overall in the 125 class at the series finale at Glen Helen, a track which he’d grown up mere miles from as an amateur. Although he didn’t set the world on fire, Alessi was happy with his first season as a professional.

For Alessi, 2006 turned out to be a complete wash after a scary pre-season crash left him with two severely broken feet. Several years earlier, he’d suffered a similar crash at the US Open aboard an 80 that left him with a broken back and both feet in shambles. From then on, he had to be very careful of what he did with his feet and the nagging injury finally caught up with him in his crash while preparing for the ’06 season. With the questionable treatment of his initial foot injury combined with his pre-season get off, Alessi was forced to undergo extensive surgery to repair his feet if he ever wanted to walk normally again, let alone race professionally once more.

Alessi limped back into the series on still ailing feet that hadn’t fully healed from surgery and with his conditioning far below where he felt it needed to be for the 2007 season. On top of his obvious health problems, he was encountering serious focus issues that left him wondering about his future in racing. Despite multiple hurdles to overcome, the season turned out okay for him, as he scored three top-ten finishes in his first season of supercross, following that up with multiple highs and lows through the outdoors.

After being dropped from Red Bull KTM, Alessi found himself left to contend the 2008 AMA Supercross series as a full-fledged privateer. After competing in only two rounds of the series, Alessi was faced with the daunting question of whether-or-not to hang up his boots, and “get a real job,” or give it absolutely everything he had to transform himself into a factory racer.

The drop of the opening gate of the 2008 AMA/Toyota Motocross Nationals marked the re-birth of Alessi Alessi. He‘d made the decision to go for his dream of being a factory motocross racer and had put his nose to the grindstone in preparation for what may have been his last chance. With his brother, several key sponsors and his personal checking account footing the money to get to the races, Alessi started chipping away at the task of making himself one of the elite racers of American motocross.

Midway through the season, after a string of strong finishes, good news started circulating the industry that Alessi would be trying out for a factory ride with Red Bull Honda. His hard work had gotten him a chance to try out for the team but, unfortunately for Alessi, the Red Bull Honda ride was handed to another struggling rider, Jimmy Albertson for the remainder of the season. Although he was not chosen for the factory ride, he kept his focus and finished out the nationals strong, even grabbing the holeshot and leading the field for a short period at Spring Creek. At the close of the summer, Alessi only finished outside of the top-ten four times and finished a career-best eighth in the AMA Toyota Motocross Nationals as second-best privateer of the series.

After several mediocre years as a professional, Alessi now seems to have found the focus and determination to become what he and his father, Tony, always dreamed he could be—a factory motocross racer.

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Jeff Alessi

Jeff Alessi

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