December 24th, 2007

Perris Pro Invitational Supercross

By Steve Emter

Posted: 12.23.2007

Perris Raceway resurrected the Perris Invitational Supercross this week. The race, which used to be a yearly tradition and a look into the upcoming season, has been MIA these past few years.
This year brought several contenders out to the specially built SX track at Perris to vie for the cash purse. In the Lites class, the Factory Connection teammates Josh Grant and Jake Weimer battled all night. In the Lites main event, Weimer made his way to the front of the pack with Grant in tow. As the two riders put distance on the rest of the field, Grant pushed hard to catch Weimer, but as the checkered flag flew, Weimer maintained the lead ahead of Grant, while Billy Lanninovich followed them across the line to round out the top 3.
The Supercross main alone was well worth the drive to Perris Raceway. Jeff Alessi shot out into the lead with the holeshot, followed by Nathan Ramsey. Josh Hill was far behind in the back of the pack as he got pinched off on the inside of the first turn. Alessi kept the lead in the opening laps, despite having some trouble in the whoops. A couple times he came close to going off the track as Nathan Ramsey pushed him around the track. Eventually Ramsey was able to pass Alessi to take the lead.
Up to this point Hill had been having a tough race. After being pushed to the back on the start, he also fell after the big triple on the track. He was able to pick the bike up and get going without losing much of the time he had made up prior. He rapidly caught back up to Alessi and passed for second. Hill then charged his way up to Ramsey, and by the closing laps was a threat to take the lead. When the white flag flew, Hill made a last ditch effort, and several times was right on Ramsey’s rear wheel trying to pass. At the finish however, Ramsey was able to stay in the lead, followed closely by Hill, while Alessi came in third after he seemed to ride the last half the race in safe mode.

RESULTS (Top 10)

Supercross Lites
1. Jake Weimer
2. Josh Grant
3. Billy Laninovich
4. Jake Moss
5. Kevin Rookstool
6. David Negliesposti
7. Cody Mackie
8. Ramon Guzman
9. Mike Horban
10. Braydon Brower

Supercross
1. Nathan Ramsey
2. Josh Hill
3. Jeff Alessi
4. Eric Sorby
5. Joaquim Rodrigues
6. Mike Sleeter
DNF Antonio Balbi
DNF Chad Robbing