Tweet Ten Things We Learned at Thunder Valley

Last Saturday's Toyota Trucks Thunder Valley National in Colorado marked the fifth stop on the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship tour. The high-altitude and rough, choppy track meant the riders were in for a serious workout, but the series points leaders won their respective classes nevertheless. Here are ten things we learned at Thunder Valley....

1. Pro Circuit Can't Be Beaten! Well, at least not at Thunder Valley. In the power-robbing altitude of the series' highest track (nearby Denver is not called the Mile-High City for nothing), Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasakis have won all twelve motos in the Lites class going back to 2005. It's a streak that includes Ivan Tedesco, Ryan Villopoto, Ben Townley, Jake Weimer, and of course Christophe Pourcel, who went 1-1 this weekend to hold on to the red plate. If that's not a "Pro Circuit Power" ad, not sure what else would work better!

 
Ben Townley

2. Pro Circuit Will Be Beaten! At least at the upcoming Motocross of Nations, which also takes place at Thunder Valley, Pro Circuit will likely field at least three and possibly all four riders on the U.S. team—Pourcel (France), Tyla Rattray (South Africa), Dean Wilson (Scotland or Canada, TBD), and Team USA ’09's Jake Weimer, though Weimer needs to find his old mojo again soon. No matter, they all can't win, right?

Christophe Pourcel

3. Josh Grant’s Speed Is Back. When Grant went down with a shoulder injury in December, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing team decided to hold him out of supercross and wait until the outdoor tour to pursue a championship. It was the safe move, but maybe not the best one, because it has clearly taken Josh a few races to get his legs back. Now he’s on a roll—he was the fastest rider at Colorado, and he ran down Dungey to win the first moto. Grant also won RedBud last year. Think about it.

4. Josh Grant Needs to Be Careful. Okay, Grant’s speed was offset by a strange first-turn crash where he didn’t really hit anyone. These things have happened to JG far too often, which makes him very unpredictable. Will he win RedBud or just settle for being the fastest guy?

Josh Grant

5. Chad Reed Is Not Right. Something is wrong with Chad Reed, evidenced by the simple math of the champion going 10-7 for eighth overall. This is not what anyone expected, and Chad doesn’t have an illness, an injury, or a bike problem to blame. He’s just not making it happen, and it’s probably more frustrating to not get results and not know why. Chad certainly has the potential to run down Dungey. But it’s hard to find that right now.

6. Mike Alessi Is Not Right. When Mike Alessi holeshot and won the second moto of the series at Hangtown, he said he had answered a lot of questions. He hasn’t made the podium since, so now we’re asking them again. Can the 350 really work? Can Mike get starts on it? Is Mike fast enough to win even if he doesn’t get the start? Worse yet, rumor has it that Mike is feeling less than 100 percent physically.

Mike Alessi

7. The 250 Class Changes Weekly. With such close competition combined with often-inconsistent young riders, the line between hero and goat status in the 250 class is thin. Justin Barcia wasn’t where he wanted to be at the first two races, then had two good rounds, followed by a bad one in Colorado. Trey Canard was too far back at the last few races but rebounded to nearly win in Colorado. Jake Weimer may have had his worst day ever with a crash-filled Colorado round. Eli Tomac has proven to be human. You just never know who will be fast in that class.

8. The Honda 450s Are Close. Throw a blanket over Brett Metcalfe, Andrew Short, and Ben Townley, who took it down to the wire in the second 450 moto. These are three different Hondas from three different teams that seem to meet in the middle on the track. Now the question is, which one will break through and get an overall win? Short has won a moto, Metty has been consistent, and Townley has been straight-up fast. We may get an answer this weekend.

9. They’ve Got a Handle on the Conditions. The first few times the Lakewood Thunder Valley National took place in the daytime, temps were high, the track was rough, and bikes and bodies were running pretty rough. But this year’s return to the daytime format featured much cooler temperatures. We didn’t hear any stories of boiling fuel or overheating bikes and riders. And with EFI on every 450 class bike, teams didn’t have as much work to do in getting their engines to run right. And that Pro Circuit team in the 250 class seems to be doing okay with old-fashioned carbs!

Jessica Patterson Is Still the Woman. No stopping JP$, again. Worse yet for the comp, the bad luck Jessica used to face now seems to be hurting everyone else, as Ashley Fiolek and Tarah Gieger crashed into each other in the opening lap of the first moto, ending their bids for an overall win just seconds into the day. Meanwhile, Patterson rolls on undefeated. The ladies are coming to RedBud, so they’ll have another shot this weekend.

Tune in this Saturday afternoon to allisports.com for the Rockstar Energy RedBud National, coming to you live from Buchanan, Michigan, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern. And you can watch the second 450 moto live on NBC beginning at 3:30 Eastern.