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AMA ATV Motocross Nationals
Round #1 - Aonia Pass MX
Washington, GA
March 24, 2012
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AMA Pro ATV Motocross
- Round 1 - Aonia Pass - Race Report
::Continued::
Moto two was a nail biter as Chad Wienen seemed
to be waiting to make a dramatic finish; and that
is exactly what he did. Wienen was third off the
start behind John Natalie and Josh Upperman. Wienen
and Natalie both made the pass on Upperman early
in the first lap and from there, Wienen stayed
close and mounted a couple of charges, but Wienen
decided to play it safe till the final lap.
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| FMF's
#44 Chad Wienen shadowed #13 John Natalie
for nearly the entire moto & even pulled
up along Natalie as the pair battled for
the lead, but in the final lap, Wienen went
for the lead & made it stick through
the whoops section to secure the Overall
win |
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| #44
Chad Wienen made an impressive debut on
his Yamaha YFZ450R as he kicks off 2012
AMA ATV MX racing season with a perfect
1-1 Win |
In the final lap, just a couple hundred yards from
the finish line, Wienen made a final push. The crowd
went wild as Wienen edged out Natalie through the
uphill whoops section to take over the lead, and
he was just able to hold off Natalie to the Checkered
flag to secure the moto two win and the top spot
on the podium. “John was running a great pace
out there and we were both pushing hard. I made
a couple of attempts but couldn’t get by him
and then in the last lap, I was able to make it
happen,” said Wienen.
“I have been waiting for this for a long
time and it really means a lot to me to be able
to come back and win like this. To come back after
last season and be able to win the first round
is an incredible feeling. It’s been a lot
of work to get here today and I have to thank
everyone who has stood behind me; my fans, friends
and family, my mechanic Ryan Cox, and all of my
sponsors who helped me get here today,”
stated Wienen.
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| The
2011 AMA Pro ATV MX Champion, Can-Am's #1
John Natalie straps on his helmet for the
start of Moto One |
Can-Am/Motoworks’ John Natalie was in second
off the start, in moto one but could not hold
back Chad Wienen and fell to the number three
spot. Natalie then came under fire from his teammate,
Joel Hetrick and fell back to the number four
spot. Natalie mounted a charge and made the pass
on Josh Upperman for third and stayed close to
the leaders, Wienen and Hetrick.
Natalie inherited the number two spot when Hetrick
went down, and in the final two laps began to
close the gap on Wienen, but was unable to get
close enough before reaching the checkered flag
and settled for second.
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| DWT's
#13 John Natalie found himself in heated
battles the entire moto as he battled with
#20 Josh Upperman for 7 laps before making
the pass in an attempt to chase down the
#44 Chad Wienen. Natalie recorded his fastest
laptimes of the race in the final laps,
but wasn't able to catch Wienen & claimed
the 2nd spot in Moto One |
In the second moto, Natalie was in second off
the start and quickly assumed the lead over Josh
Upperman, but Chad Wienen was right on his grab
bar, waiting for an opportunity. Natalie was able
to fend off several attempts from Wienen, but
in the final lap, just before the finish, Wienen
got by, giving Natalie a second place finish.
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Motoworks'
#13 John Natalie Jr quickly took over
the lead in a few turns in Moto Two with
#44 Wienen, #20 Upperman & #26 Swartfager
in chase
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