At the start of the season, the top 10 consisted of all four Honda Red Bull Riders. Injuries have once again played into the equation as two nurse injuries.
Round 3- Freestone County Raceway
At the beginning of the season, Ben Townley's move to the premier class was one of the most talked about changes in the motocross class. The previous year, Townley took chase to the previously unstoppable Ryan Villapoto. Villapoto would win the season, but only after suffering multiple defeats at the hands of Townley.
While practicing for Hangtown, Townley crashed, chipping his "good ankle." He muscled through the race to a top ten finish, but shortly after informed his team that he would take the next two races off. This sacrifice would actually gain Townsley three weeks of recovery due to a lapse in the racing schedule on 6/22.
Without their Kiwi counterpart, the Honda Red Bull Riders pushed hard to finish 3-5-6 in the first moto. Davi Millsaps would improve on his first fifth place finish in the first moto to fourth in the second. Andrew Short slowed a bit from third in the first to sixth in the second. Short's 3-6 was good enough to put him on the podium for the first time of the season.
Ivan Tedesco finished well in the first moto, but found himself lying on the ground after swapping hard in the second moto. Tedesco retired from the race, dissappointed after a strong showing a week earlier at Hangtown.
Round 4-High Point Raceway
After a huge step-off in round 3, Ivan Tedesco put forth a good effort in the first moto at High Point, but recognized the opportunity to have two weeks in a row for rest. By virue of ducking out in the second moto, the four rider Honda Red Bull team was whittled down to two riders: Andrew Short and Davi Millsaps.
Carrying the flag for the team, both riders jumped out to top-5 finishes in the first moto. Davi Millsaps made a strong charge towards the end of the race, to hold off Timmy Ferry.
The second moto would be almost a carbon copy of the first. In fact, all of the top-5 finishers finished in the exact same places as the first moto. The biggest difference was the gap that James Stewart was able to put on them, a mere 9-seconds (on second place) compared to 34 in the first moto.
Strong finishes from Millsaps would move him up to tie Tim Ferry for third place in the overall standings, only five points behind Mike Alessi in second.