Thunder Valley: Jo Shimoda wins the day, Sacha Coenen wins race 2

3rd stage of the US Nationals of the 250cc class in Thunder Valley (Colorado): New Zealand's East Coast Supercross champion Cole Davies (Yamaha) burnt the best lap time into the ground in qualifying. Belgian wildcard rider and MX2 World Championship leader Sacha Coenen (KTM) finished qualifying in second place ahead of Julien Beaumer (KTM) on his US debut.

Combined qualifying:

1. Cole Davies (NZ), Yamaha, 2:04.463

2. Sacha Coenen (B), KTM, +0.754

3. Julien Beaumer (USA), KTM, +1.002

4. Seth Hammaker (USA), Kawasaki, +1.134

5. Levi Kitchen (USA), Kawasaki, +1.323

6. Michael Mosiman (USA), Yamaha, +1.911

First race: 2 crashes by Sacha Coenen

Seth Hammaker (Kawasaki) took the holeshot ahead of Julien Beaumer and Nick Romano (Kawasaki). Sacha Coenen started in the top 6, but collided with an opponent on a downhill jump in the air and crashed. This dropped him out of the top 20, and although the Belgian crashed again during his recovery, he was still able to post fast lap times, but under the circumstances he was unable to finish higher than 14th.

Heat win for Kitchen

Levi Kitchen prevailed over Seth Hammaker in the last two laps to win the first race. Jo Shimoda (Honda) finished third.

Start-to-finish victory for Sacha Coenen

After his two crashes in the first race and his twin brother Lucas' podium in the 450 class, Sacha was determined to do better in the second race. He took the holeshot, immediately pulled away from the field and confidently won the second race with a lead of 7 seconds.

Mass crash in the first corner

In the first corner after the start of the second race, Levi Kitchen caused a mass crash that involved Seth Hammaker as well as several other riders. Both Kitchen and Hammaker had to start a race to catch up from the back of the field and finished 8th and 12th respectively. Jo Shimoda finished second behind Sacha Coenen and won the day's classification with a 3-2 result. Levi Kitchen took second place on the podium with a 1-5 result and Nick Romano was delighted with his first 250cc podium of his career in third place overall. Sacha Coenen missed out on the podium in fourth place, but was still satisfied in the end: "I now know that I can win here," explained the Belgian. Sacha will now return to Europe to compete in the next World Championship round next weekend in Montecarchi (Italy).

I now know that I can win here"

Sacha Coenen

Sacha Coenen gewann den zweiten Lauf in Thunder Valley

Foto: AMA

Situation at the top of the standings

Levi Kitchen and Seth Hammaker are tied at the top of the standings with 117 points after 3 of 11 stages. Jo Shimoda improved from 5th to 3rd place and reduced the gap to the leader from 16 to 6 points.