PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MotoConcepts Racing: ARLINGTON SX Report
SPOKANE, WA (February 14, 2015) – The spectacular AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, held an almost sold out crowd for the seventh round of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross Series. After weeks of anticipation and preparation, the 250 East coast riders would debut their talent and set the bar for the start of their supercross season. Team Smartop MotoConcepts would also transition their rider Vince Friese (#45/250) onto his MCR 250, as teammate Mike Alessi (#800/450) continues to hold down the premier 450 class. The usual hard packed dirt was replaced with sandier, tackier clay-like dirt that led to an interesting night of racing.
Friese was up against M. Davalos, A. Tonus and reigning champ J. Bogle in the first 250 Heat of the night. After grabbing the holeshot, Friese approached the first triple jump and cautiously doubled. Moments later he was catapulted in the air by N. Gaines who decided to triple the jump behind him and landed directly on his rear wheel. Getting back up in 12th, Friese made his way up to a qualifying position and finished the Heat in 8th.
In the Main event, Friese wasn’t able to capitalize on another holeshot and settled into 9th place after the first lap. He quickly took action and passed J. Starling for 8th. The atypical, red flag, staggered restart allowed Friese to gain some ground on his competitors. He would make two more imperative passes late in the race that placed him right outside the top 5. Friese walked away from the night with a few bruises, yet he still managed to make the most out of his 6th place finish and says he is ready for even better success in the future.
The 450 Heat 2 was nothing short of exhilarating. Alessi did not get the holeshot, even though some may have presumed he did considering how close it was. T. Canard inched his way through with Alessi close behind in 2nd. After coming up short on a triple, he lost his number two spot and rode aggressively in 3rd place. Things started to heat up towards the end of the race when Baggett, Seely and Roczen started closing in. Alessi held strong, even through the whoops where he lost slight control and almost surrendered his transfer spot. The battle continued to transpire until the last corner of the race when the German native passed for 3rd. Fortunately, Alessi shut the door on the other two contending and held on to his transferring 4thplace position.
The direct transfer to the Main event gave Alessi some boosted confidence and a decent position on the line. It came as a surprise when the #800 bike was neighboring 20th place out of the first corner. Knowing he needed to make some immediate passes, Alessi quickly moved up to 12th place in a matter of six laps. Lap twelve came around and competitors would pass by as they saw Alessi trying to restart his bike after he slid out in a corner. Alessi would remount in 19th and finish out the race in 18th.
We wish to thank our sponsors including Smartop, JT Racing, FMF, Ohlins Suspension, MotoGraphics, Alpinestars, NorthWest Steel Fab, Boyesen, Dunlop, UFO, CV4, Leo Vince Carbon Products, Peg Armor, VP Fuels, Guts, DT1, MotoOptics, Works Connection, Galfer, Supersprox, Excel, Hinson, and Victorville MC Center.
Press Release Cred: Shauna Genova
