Victorville's Alessi out 6 weeks with broken kneecap.

Victorville's Mike Alessi, the current AMA Motocross series points leader, is expected to miss the next six weeks after breaking his left kneecap in a practice session in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania.

Alessi had successful surgery this morning, according to a release by Rockstar Makita Suzuki.

"There was no other damage to the knee beyond the broken kneecap," team manager Roger DeCoster said in a statement. "The outlook is better than expected, as we thought he was out for the year. It appears now that there's a good chance he will be able to get back out there racing before the end of this season."

Alessi had not lost a moto since the season-opening event at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. After a pair of first-place finishes Saturday in Texas, he was leading Chad Reed by a 142-111 margin in the season points standings.

Left knee surgeries have now befallen the only two riders to win an event this year; Glen Helen winner Ryan Villopoto had knee surgery on June 3 and will miss the remainder of the motocross season.