- Mike Alessi
-
Mike Alessi 
Alessi during an interview in 2007
Personal Information Name Michael Alessi Date of Birth May 19, 1988 Nationality U.S. 
Team Information Current Team Red Bull KTM National Number 800 Teammates Andrew Short Ken Roczen Marvin Musquin Professional Teams 2010–Present Red Bull KTM 2008 - 2009 Rockstar Makita Suzuki 2004 - 2007 Red Bull KTM 2004 Varner Motorsports Honda Series Finishes 2010 AMA Motocross National 5th Place 2009 AMA Motocross National 13th Place 2009 AMA Supercross 9th Place 2008 AMA Motocross National 10th Place 2008 AMA Supercross 17th Place 2007 AMA Motocross National 2nd Place 2007 AMA Supercross Lites East 8th Place 2006 AMA Motocross Lites National 2nd Place 2006 AMA Supercross Lites West 4th Place 2005 AMA Motocross 125 National 3rd Place Accomplishments Motocross Overall Wins: 2 Motocross Podiums: 16 Supercross Podiums: 1 Motocross Lites Overall Wins: 3 Motocross Lites Podiums: 13 Supercross Lites Podiums: 4 Awards - 2004 AMA Horizon Award
Mike Alessi (born May 19, 1988) is a professional Motocross and Supercross racer. He began riding motorcycles at the age of three and became a professional racer at age sixteen.[1]
Contents
Amateur career
Alessi's rise through the amateur ranks began at age six when he won his first National Championship at Loretta Lynn's in Nashville, Tennessee. After ten years, Alessi had tied James Stewart Jr.'s all-time Amateur National championships with eleven. [2]
Professional Debut
When Alessi first turned pro in 2004, he made an appearance in two races in the 250cc class, currently called the Motocross Class. His first race was at Spring Creek Motocross Park in Millville, Minnesota. He failed to score any points and was thirtieth overall. Three weeks later, at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania, Alessi proved that he could compete at the professional level when he scored a 3rd overall finish behind Ricky Carmichael and Kevin Windham in his second professional race. [3]
250/Lites Class Career
Alessi elected to sit out the 2005 Supercross season in order to prepare himself for his first full season as a professional motocross rider in the 125cc class (currently Lites Class). He had four podium finishes that year, two of which he finished first place overall. An on-track incident at the final race at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California led to his disqualification from the event. As a result, Alessi was put on a year long probation by the American Motorcyclist Association and finished 3rd overall in the championship. [4]
The beginning of 2006 marked the first season of Supercross in which Alessi would be contesting. He struggled the first few rounds of the Supercross Lites West Region series, but began to find his rhythm towards the end of the season. He scored a top five finish in the last five rounds of the series that included two back to back 3rd place finishes at San Francisco and Anaheim. Alessi finished the West Region championship in 4th place. The final Supercross race of the season did not count for the Lites championship, but that did not stop Alessi from finishing a career best second place overall at the Las Vegas Lites East/West Shootout. [4]
Riding the season ending success he experienced in Supercross, Alessi looked poised to win he's first professional championship in the 2006 Motocross Lites National Championship series. Alessi opened the series with a first place overall finish at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Sacramento, California. He went on to score eight additional podium (top three) finishes. Unfortunately, his consistent success was not enough to best his amateur rival, Ryan Villopoto. Alessi finished the season second overall. [4]
In 2007, Alessi moved over to contest the Supercross Lites East Region Championship. After one top three performance and two DNF's (did not finish), Alessi finished eighth in the championship.[5]
450/Premier Class Career
Alessi had announced early in 2007 that he was stepping up to race in the premier Motocross Class for the 2007 AMA Motocross Championship. Many critics felt that he was abandoning his chance at a championship in the Lites class, but Alessi was confident that he was making the right choice for himself. After finishing the first two races just barely inside the top ten, Alessi recorded six podium finishes and finished second place overall in his rookie season in the Motocross class. [6]
Alessi's debut season in the Supercross Class seemed promising as he was fourth place in the championship points race after five of seventeen rounds. His season was cut short in San Diego during the sixth round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. During the second practice session, Alessi crashed in the whoops section of the track resulting in a broken collarbone. After a seven week recovery, Alessi decided to sit out the remainder of the 2008 Supercross season in order to prepare for the upcoming 2008 AMA Motocross Championship.[7]
Alessi quickly established himself as the second fastest racer behind James Stewart Jr. during the initial rounds of the 2008 AMA Motocross Championship. However, Alessi suffered a severe crash at Red Bud Raceway on July 6, 2008 during the second moto. The crash resulted in Alessi breaking both shoulder blades and a rib, bruising a lung, and suffering a severe concussion. He sat out the remainder of the season and finished tenth overall in the championship.[1]
In September 2008, three months before the beginning of the 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, Alessi broke his fibula and tibia bones in the lower left leg during a Supercross practice session.[8] After recovering from his injuries, Alessi competed in the entire 2009 Supercross season scoring eleven top ten finishes one of which was a third place podium finish in Indianapolis. He finished the season ninth place overall.[9]
The 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross saw the renewed rivalry of Ryan Villopoto and Mike Alessi as Villopoto made his debut in the newly renamed 450cc Class (previously called the Motocross Class.) Alessi finished second overall behind Villopoto at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. In preparation for the second round of the series, Villopoto injured his knee during practice and would be forced to have surgery and sit out the remainder of the 2009 season.[10] With Villopoto out for the season, Alessi won the second and third races of the series and took over the series points lead. In preparation for the fourth round of the series, Alessi crashed during a practice session and broke his left kneecap. After surgery and a two week recovery, Alessi felt he could rejoin the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series and continue fighting for the championship. After a crash in the first moto of the fifth round at Thunder Valley Motocross Park in Colorado, Alessi opted not to risk further damage to his knee and decided to sit out the remainder of the 2009 motocross season.[11]
For the 2010 racing season, Alessi signed once again with factory KTM. He sat out the entire 2010 Supercross season spending most of his time in Europe testing the brand new KTM 350SXF. Alessi debuted the 350CC machine at the opening round of the 2010 AMA Motocross Championship. He scored an impressive second moto win and took home a second overall finish. Unfortunately, Alessi struggled the rest of the summer to produce the results he experienced during the first round of the series. After scoring only one more top three overall finish (a second place during the tenth of twelve rounds) Alessi finished the series fifth overall.[12]
Sponsorships
Mike Alessi has raced for Honda, Suzuki, and currently KTM since he became a professional rider in 2004. He and his brother Jeff Alessi are currently the only American riders to have a full gear sponsorship from Alpinestars. Mike's other major sponsors include Skin Industries, Red Bull, and EKS Brand goggles. [13]
Personal life
Mike currently splits his time living in Victorville, California and Hilliard, Florida with his wife, Danielle. They were married on September 28, 2011.[14]
References
- ^ a b http://www.racerxonline.com/rider/mike-alessi.aspx Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ http://home.ama-cycle.org/post/mx/story.asp?id=132 Accessed August 1, 2007
- ^ http://www.allisports.com/motocross-results Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ a b c AMA Supercross/Motocross Top Ranked Rider Career Histories/Mike Alessi Accessed August 2, 2007
- ^ AMA Motocross Archive:News Accessed August 8, 2007
- ^ AMA Motocross.com Accessed September 28, 2007
- ^ AMA Motocross.com Accessed May 2, 2008
- ^ http://www.racerxonline.com/blog/racer-x-staff-blog/2008/09/15/mike-alessi-update/ Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ http://www.amasupercross.com/results/index.aspx Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ http://www.racerxonline.com/article/5-minutes-with-ryan-villopoto-6-10.aspx Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ http://www.racerxonline.com/article/mike-alessi-update-7-1.aspx Accessed July 1, 2009
- ^ http://www.allisports.com/motocross/race-results Accessed April 8, 2011
- ^ http://www.alessiracing.com/sponsors.html Accessed August 2, 2007
- ^ http://www.alessiracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=64 Accessed April 8, 2011
External links
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- American motorcycle racers
- People from the Inland Empire (California)
- Motocross riders
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