Cycle News Staff | April 23, 2024

The sweet sounds of two-strokes invaded Glen Helen Raceway for the 15th annual Wiseco 2-Stroke World Championship Motocross, presented by Fasthouse.

Open Pro race at 2024 2-Stroke World Championship — **Carson Brown (1), on his KTM 300cc-powered Suzuki, leads Hoeft (27), Ryan Villopoto (2) and Griffin Dexter (206) off the start of the Open Pro race.**

This race always brings out a plethora of cool bikes, both new and old, with just one rule—two-strokes only. A variety of current and former pros lined up to partake in the cash purses that were up for grabs, including Ryan Villopoto, Carson Brown, Mike Alessi, Justin Hoeft, Josh Mosiman, and many more. In the end, Justin Hoeft and Sean Lipanovich walked away with big wins in the Open Pro and 125 Pro divisions.

VIDEO | Glen Helen 2024 2-Stroke World Championship

Glen Helen 2024 2-Stroke World Championship

Pasha 125 Pro

The first Pasha 125 Pro moto saw Lipanovich grab the all-important holeshot over Luke Kalaitzian. The two battled wheel-to-wheel in the opening laps while Josh Mosiman worked his way forward from a top-five start.

By the end of lap two, Mosiman had found his way into third after getting around Alessi, and then he set his sights on the two leaders. After out-dragging Kalaitzian and Lipanovich in succession, Mosiman shot off the track and dropped back to third. One lap later, he was back in the mix and put himself into the top spot.

Once in the lead, Mosiman ran away with the rest of the moto, marking it the third year in a row he’s taken the first-moto win. KTM’s Ryan Morais charged his way up to second at the checkers, dropping Lipanovich back to third.

Sean Lipanovich at 2024 2-Stroke World Championship — **In the popular 125cc Pro class, Sean Lipanovich took the overall victory after winning the second moto.**

Moto two saw the same front runners, once again, as Lipanovich, Morais, and Mosiman started first, second and third, respectively. Mosiman mounted another charge at the halfway mark, but a rock managed to get stuck in his rear sprocket and brought the bike to a halt, forcing him out of the race.

With Mosiman now out, Lipanovich and Morais made it a suspenseful race at the front for a winner-take-all moto. Lipanovich used every ounce of his GasGas’ power to hold off second place, taking the win and the overall in the process with 3-1 finishes. Morais went 2-2 on the day for second overall, with Mike Alessi’s 4-3 giving him third overall.

“Honestly, I didn’t look back at all, and I didn’t know who was behind me,” Lipanovich said. Then I saw the two-lap board to go, and I was like, ‘I can’t throw this one away.’ Then Ryan [Morais] stuck it in one time, and I knew I had to go with one lap left.”

Open Pro

The defending champ, Carson Brown, held his custom KTM 300-powered Suzuki wide open to holeshot the first moto of the Open Pro class. He made light work of the deep field and walked away with the win, 15 seconds clear of second place.

Hoeft started a close second but slowly lost touch with Brown. He crossed a safe second place to start the day.

Luke Kalaitzian traded his Husqvarna 125 for a circa-1990s CR250 Husqvarna and raced to third in moto one.

Justin Hoeft at 2024 2-Stroke World Championship — **Justin Hoeft won the competitive Open Pro class. Photos: Will Embree**

Villopoto showed his professional expertise with a big holeshot in moto two aboard his Yamaha YZ250. Hoeft, the defending WORCS champ, started second, once again, and made his way around the former champ on lap two, with Brown closely in third. Hoeft and Brown, who got around Villopoto, duked it out for the rest of the 20-minute moto, staying only one-second apart for the entire race. In the end, Hoeft used his off-road conditioning to hold the lead through to the finish and clinched the overall with 2-1 finishes. Brown went for an exciting last-turn pass but ended up falling and crossed second with second overall.

Villopoto found some late-race speed and held on for third in moto two, but Italy’s Giacomo Redondi used 5-4 scores to earn third overall.

“He [Brown] got me good in the first moto and I knew I needed to start in front of him,” Hoeft said. “That was a hard race, not going to lie. I had to do the start with no holeshot device, but I was hungry for that start and we made it work.”

Two other Pro races stood out over the weekend, with familiar names taking titles. Lipanovich again topped moto one of the 30+ 125cc Pro class and crossed second in race two to take the overall. Alessi finished on the box, third, in moto one but bounced back with an exciting win in moto two to take second overall.

Morais again put his KTM on the box, going 2-4 for third overall.

Kurt Nicoll swept the 50+ 125cc Pro division with two first place results over John Dubiel’s 2-2, and Nick Mairose’s 4-3.CN