AMA MX: Short Breaks Into Top Five

Andrew Short broke out of his funk registering his first top-five overall result of the 2011 outdoor season with a strong outing at his home round.

Media Release |  Posted June 26, 2011   Lakewood, CO

Red Bull/KTM Factory rider Andrew Short finished 5th overall at the fifth round of the series, and his hometown race, held at Thunder Valley MX Park in Lakewood, CO.

Short got a decent start in the first moto coming around the corner in 10th position. He rode a solid pace, picking off a few riders throughout the laps. He eventually moved up to 7th by the moto end.

"I was happy with my first moto considering I wasn’t feeling that good at the start of the race," remarked Short. "I had a pretty big get off in practice and it took me a while to recover from it. I was still shaken up from it at the start of the first moto and I struggled a little bit."

Short repeated his first moto start in the second moto rounding the first corner near the top ten. "I was feeling worse in my second moto as the side effects from the earlier crash were really starting to kick in. It was hard to pick up my pace during the second moto."

Short continued to push as hard as he could and managed to climb up to 8th. His 7-8 moto scores earned him an impressive 5th place result. "Overall, I’m happy to finish the race without any major injuries or issues. This is one of my favorite tracks and I had a great time today."

The second member of the team, Mike Alessi, suffered an unusual poor start in the first moto. He came around the first turn around 20th but made an impressive charge through the pack earlier on. By the end of the first lap he had moved well into the top ten and was sitting in 6th. He moved up as high as 4th during the moto before losing one position to Kevin Windham at the end of the race. He finished the first moto in a solid 5th position.

In moto number two, Alessi got off to a good start inside the top five. In the second corner his front tire clipped the rear wheel of Ryan Villopoto’s bike as the two riders battled for a lead position. The contact caused Alessi to crash hard. Alessi took a few moments to recover and eventually ended up pulling off from back pain. After the moto, he reported that his back is slightly swollen but that he will be okay to race for the next weekend.