Substituting for the injured Josh Hill, Florida motocrosser Matt Goerke gave Yamaha Factory Racing its first AMA Motocross individual moto and overall wins in nearly two years at Southwick, Mass. on Saturday, Aug. 29. Keeping it together under extremely muddy and rutty conditions, Goerke steered his YZ450F to 6-1 moto finishes to take the overall victory over Michael Byrne and impressive 44-year-old John Dowd, while also claiming the first AMA Pro Racing moto and overall wins of his career. Prior to Goerke’s achievement on Saturday, it was Grant Langston who gave Yamaha Factory Racing its last overall win during the final round of the 2007 season at Glen Helen in California.
Motocross... Heavy rains on race-day turned the already difficult 1.3-mile sand track at historic Moto-X 338 even tougher. But it scarcely deterred the 40 pro riders who lined up for the first 30-minutes plus two laps moto, and when the gate dropped Goerke rocketed to a fifth-place start. Clearly possessing winning speed, he unfortunately crashed early in the moto and ended up finishing sixth, a good result under the conditions. Goerke put his head down with even more focus in the second moto, getting away in the top five once again and then working his way past Michael Bryrne and Andrew Short until he found himself in second behind leader Chad Reed. A nasty crash for Reed just past the halfway point handed the lead to Goerke, and he powered onward to take the win.
“Man, it’s the best day of my life!” Goerke rejoiced. “When I was late getting to the gate they put me on the outside, and I was just mad! But I came out good and I just worked my way through and won – I can’t believe it!” Yamaha motocross team manager Jim Perry added, “I am glad to see the factory Yamaha get back to its winning ways after a long drought. I am also happy for Matt, who at this moment definitely has the world by the tail. He has an opportunity to do the job and probably is putting in more effort now that he ever has.”
Motocross Results |
| 1 |
Matt Goerke - YAM |
(6,1) |
| 2 |
Michael Byrne |
(3,3) |
| 3 |
John Dowd |
(10,2) |
| 4 |
Thomas Hahn |
(9,4) |
| 5 |
Robby Marshall |
(5,7) |
| 6 |
Kyle Regal - YAM |
(4,10) |
| 7 |
Andrew Short |
(7,9) |
| 8 |
Chad Reed |
(1,31) |
| 9 |
Jake Moss |
(2,30) |
| 10 |
Robbie Reynard |
|
|
 |
Standing after round 11 of 12 |
| 1 |
Chad Reed |
459 |
| 2 |
Andrew Short |
356 |
| 3 |
Ivan Tedesco |
338 |
| 4 |
Michael Byrne |
316 |
| 5 |
Josh Grant - YAM |
280 |
| 6 |
Thomas Hahn |
259 |
| 7 |
Justin Brayton |
214 |
| 8 |
Cody Cooper - YAM |
184 |
| 9 |
Nick Wey - YAM |
182 |
| 10 |
Jimmy Albertson - YAM |
164 |
|
Motocross Lites Results |
| 1 |
Justin Barcia |
(1,3) |
| 2 |
Tyla Rattray |
(6,1) |
| 3 |
Brett Metcalfe |
(4,2) |
| 4 |
Ryan Dungey |
(2,4) |
| 5 |
Talor Futrell |
(7,7) |
| 6 |
Tommy Searle |
(9,6) |
| 7 |
Blake Wharton |
(3,15) |
| 8 |
Broc Tickle - YAM |
(8,13) |
| 9 |
Jake Weimer |
(13,9) |
| 10 |
Blake Baggett |
(15,8) |
|
|
Standing after round 11 of 12 |
| 1 |
Ryan Dungey |
459 |
| 2 |
Christophe Pourcel |
442 |
| 3 |
Brett Metcalfe |
352 |
| 4 |
Jake Weimer |
322 |
| 5 |
Justin Barcia |
312 |
| 6 |
Tommy Searle |
309 |
| 7 |
Broc Tickle - YAM |
263 |
| 8 |
Blake Wharton |
240 |
| 9 |
Tyla Rattray |
236 |
| 10 |
Kyle Cunningham |
174 |
|
|