SX Racing Report
Jake Weimer is looking to match his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate Christophe Pourcel by hanging a No. 1 Supercross Lites’ plate on the door of his team’s transporter.
He came one-step closer in Seattle, finishing on the podium and building a 19-point lead in the motorcycle racing standings. Josh Hansen showed speed early, but a difficult track and lapped traffic saw him finish sixth.
The race track in Seattle was one of the most difficult the riders had ever faced with large ruts forming early in the race, making some obstacles nearly impossible to clear. In SX Lites qualifying practice, Weimer took control and set the quickest lap while Hansen posted the sixth fastest time.
In the first heat race, Hansen got out of the gate quick and finished second. In the Weimer’s heat, the drama started early as he was caught up in a first turn crash.
After rejoining near the back of the field, Weimer started moving up, only to stall the bike and drop back once again. With mud caked on the back of his helmet, Weimer charged up to ninth and earned the final transfer spot into the Supercross Lites main.
"I got up to third and was closing in on second," said Hansen. "But I got cross-rutted and crashed and then later in the race I got caught up with a lapper and crashed again. The track was gnarly, but I was able to come through the pack so it’s frustrating I didn’t get the finish I wanted."
With the 18th gate pick, Weimer had to come from the outside and he got a great jump off the gate and was second after the first turn. Unfortunately he went off the track on the next straightaway and dropped to 10th.
The track continued to deteriorate as the laps clicked by, but Weimer was able to claw his way back up to third. Early on Hansen worked his way up from 7th to third before going down and falling back to sixth on lap 11. He would go down one more time, but he was still able to maintain his sixth place position.
Jake Weimer says: "After I was stressed out for the hour between the heat and the main about my start, I got a great start," said Weimer. "But then I fell down on the first lap and I didn’t know how far back I went, but I was just thinking I was the biggest idiot to ever ride a dirt bike. I thought Trey was leading so I just rode the best I could and ended up on the box. My goal was to push and get as much as I could and I did that."
Weimer needs to finish 15th or better at the final round of the AMA Supercross Lites West Coast season at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City to clinch the championship.
