Bike Week | Mike Alessi’s Daytona Supercross
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Week two of Mike Alessi’s return to Supercross was eventful, to say the least. A small illness kept the SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda rider from putting him practice laps early in the week, but on Thursday he swept the Tampa Pro motocross race over Tyler Bowers and some other speedy riders. Considering the time that Alessi spent away from SX, it’s impressive to see him make two Main Events right off the bat.
Daytona was his second week of Supercross racing and the track conditions tend to suit Alessi’s skillset, as it is much more similar to an outdoor motocross event than any other Supercross. An illness early in the week kept Alessi from getting ample time on the motorcycle, but he lined up and swept the premier class at the Thursday’s Tampa Pro Open race. At Daytona, Alessi qualified twenty-fifth overall but was regulated to racing the LCQ after a first-turn pile up in the Heat Race. The start of the LCQ was what one would expect from the 800, as he nabbed the holeshot from a far outside gate and went unchallenged to the win. Alessi had another solid start in the 450 Main Event but hit the brakes to avoid a possible collision with teammate Brayton as the pack funneled into the fast first turn. “I got a good jump but as we were going into the first turn, I saw my teammate as he came in hot and I chose to go off of the track. I didn’t want us to collide at Mach One, so I came out in fifteenth place and stayed in that spot for most of the race.” Alessi’s results were impacted by a pair of crashes late in the race and he shifted his focus to finishing the night safely; he was ranked twentieth in the final results. Alessi has made two Main Events, a remarkable feat after years away from the unique discipline and is now twenty-eighth in the point standings.
