Suzuki’s Mike Alessi is the flavour of the week after he was credited with back-to-back wins to dominate round two of the United States Motocross Championships at Hangtown at the weekend.

With round one winner Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) crashing out of the championship, there was suddenly room for someone else to step forward and it was Alessi who accepted the invitation to celebrate his first career AMA Motocross 450 class victory at the track in Sacramento, California, on Saturday afternoon.

Alessi (pictured above) rode two impressive motos on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450, winning the first and finishing in the runner-up spot in the second. Although that performance was enough to secure the overall victory, the winner of the second moto was penalised by the AMA, which gave Alessi 1-1 moto victories as well as the overall he’d already earned.

Second best on the day was Honda’s Ivan Tesesco, whose 2-4 results were good enough for him to fend off Alessi’s Suzuki team-mate, Australian Chad Reed, who had to settle for the No.3 spot on the podium.

Although two-time AMA supercross champion Reed finished sixth in the first moto, he came back and finished third in the second, with the result being a third-place overall.

New Zealand’s Cody Cooper (Yamaha) finished fourth in the opening moto but slipped back to finish 23rd in race two. It also means Cooper has dropped from eighth overall after round one to now be 10th in the championship standings.

Fellow Kiwi Justin McDonald (Honda), of Christchurch, finished 34th and 18th in his two outings, good for 24th overall on the day, and he is now 27th in the series standings.

“It means a lot – getting my first-ever 450 Motocross overall win,” said Alessi afterwards.

“It’s great, I felt like I was riding my own race and it feels good to finally win. I rode a really consistent race, and rode really smart and I never really put myself in a position where I was riding over my head at all, so it’s just awesome to come out with the overall.”

In the 250 class, Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, who won the opening-round of AMA Motocross at Glen Helen and leads the overall championship points in the class, had a challenging first moto and finished seventh.

In the second moto, the recently-crowned 2009 AMA Supercross Lites West Coast Champion rallied and won, thus securing an overall podium finish.

The next round is at Freestone County Raceway in Wortham, Texas, this coming on Saturday.

Results: Sacramento, Calif.May 30, 2009.

Round 2 of 12:

450 Class (moto results):

Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki (1-1)

Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda (2-4)

Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki (6-3)

Andrew Short, Smithville, Tex., Honda (3-6)

Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (9-2)

Daniel Reardon, Australia, Honda (7-5)

Matt Goerke, Lake Helen, Fla., Suzuki (5-9)

Justin Brayton, Murrieta, Calif., KTM (8-10)

Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki (11-8)

Cody Cooper, New Zealand, Yamaha (4-23)

450 Class Championship Standings:

Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki, 92

Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha, 74

Chad Reed, Australia, Suzuki, 73

Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 55

Thomas Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Kawasaki, 52

Andrew Short, Smithville, Tex., Honda, 51

Dan Reardon, Australia, Honda, 41

Matt Goerke, Lake Helen, Fla., Suzuki, 41

Ivan Tedesco, Tallahassee, Fla., Honda, 40

Cody Cooper, New Zealand, Yamaha, 37

250 Class (moto results):

Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (1-3)

Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (3-2)

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki (7-1)

Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda (5-4)

Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (4-7)

Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (6-6)

Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda (9-5)

Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (8-8)

P.J. Larsen, Stanley, N.C., Kawasaki (10-10)

Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda (2-29)

250 Class Championship Standings:

Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki, 86

Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki, 84

Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 75

Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki, 70

Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Honda, 63

Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda, 54

Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 53

Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda, 52

Tommy Searle, England, KTM, 48

Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha, 47

Photo by Joe Bonnello, www.BikesportNZ.com