The 2011 AMA Supercross series kick-started into action last Saturday at Anaheim 1, with Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Ryan Villopoto winning in the premier class, and Monster Energy / Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Josh Hansen in the Lites class.
In the AMA Supercross Lites Western Regional class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Jake Weimer, of Rupert, Idaho, captured his second straight win.
After a highly successful 2010 season that saw Jake Weimer and Christophe Pourcel claim the 250 Lites West and East titles respectively, Mitch Payton and his Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Traxxas 250 team began the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross season with a podium-sweeping finish at “Anaheim I,” the much-anticipated annual kickoff to the Supercross season. With Weimer and Pourcel no longer in the 250 class, the 2011 Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Traxxas rider lineup includes new team member Broc Tickle, returning veteran Josh Hansen, and South Africa’s Tyla Rattray, who was on the 2010 squad but sat out the season due to injuries.
Tickle and Hansen were close behind, and as Christian left the door open in a turn, Hansen charged into the gap. The front runners were now Hansen, Tickle, and Rattray. As the pyro cannons signaled the end of the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross season’s first Lites Main, Josh Hansen fist-pumped in mid-air to celebrate the well-earned win. Traxxas congratulates Josh Hansen, Broc Tickle, and Tyla Rattray on their exceptional performance in Anaheim, and salutes Mitch Payton and the entire Pro Circuit/Kawasaki/Traxxas team on an auspicious start to the 2011 season.