Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship – Round 12 of 12 – Lake Elsinore – August 25, 2013
— Ryan Villopoto Finishes with a Sweep, Wins 450 Moto 2 at Lake Elsinore
Ryan Villopoto finished his 2013 campaign the same way he started it, with a sweep and a dominant performance in California. Villopoto made quick work of Justin Brayton, passing the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot winner after the first turn and coasting his way to victory. Villopoto finishes the season by taking 8 of 12 overall wins and winning 18 of 24 motos. This is the second title in the 450 Class for the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider and his 5th total in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Villopoto was followed by the 2012 champion Ryan Dungey, who finished 19 seconds behind the leader. Dungey rode in second all season and was unable to match the speed of Villopoto who made his return to the series after missing 2012 due to injury. Dungey finishes with 3 overall wins on the year and will not have much of a break as he prepares to ride in the Motocross des Nations contest in Germany this September.
Dungey’s Motocross des Nations teammate, Justin Barcia finished the moto in third. Barcia was passed by Dungey early in the race as they went down one of the hills and fell 24 seconds behind the second-place finisher. Barcia takes the final overall podium spot for the day and also completes the season in third place for the Honda Muscle Milk team.
Jake Weimer finishes fourth, matching a season high, and secures 6th place on the season after being threatened by Andrew Short, who came into the day only 6 points behind Weimer. Weimer had a rocky start to the year but has really straightened the ship lately. Mike Alessi had a strong moto, finishing 5th to go 12-5 at Lake Elsinore.
Tyla Rattray finished 6th followed by privateer, Weston Peick, who put in a good result after being unable to finish Moto 1. Brett Metcalfe came in 8th, Brayton drifted back to 9th after winning the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot, and Trey Canard rounded out the top 10.
After a great first moto, Josh Grant did not line up for Moto 2.
After a dominant 2013 season, Villopoto will have his work cut out for him with an even more loaded 450 class in 2014 with Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen planning to move up to big bikes. Villopoto has proven to be the fastest man on a 450 and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. Villopoto has already cemented his legacy as one of the best riders ever and can make his case even stronger with another great Supercross season and another championship in 2014.
— Lake Elsinore 450 Moto 2 Results
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Ryan Dungey (-19.0 seconds)
3. Justin Barcia
4. Jake Weimer
5. Mike Alessi
6. Tyla Rattray
7. Weston Peick
8. Brett Metcalfe
9. Justin Brayton
10. Trey Canard
11. Broc Tickle
12. Andrew Short
13. Ben LaMay
14. Ryan Sipes
15. Michael Byrne
16. Zack Freeberg
17. Nick Wey
18. Malcolm Stewart
19. Evgeny Mikhalylov
20. Derek Anderson
— Lake Elsinore 450 Class Overall Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (2-2)
3. Justin Barcia (5-3)
4. Jake Weimer (8-4)
5. Tyla Rattray (7-6)
6. Trey Canard (4-10)
7. Mike Alessi (12-5)
8. Brett Metcalfe (10-8)
9. Andrew Short (6-12)
10. Broc Tickle (11-11)
11. Josh Grant (3-38)
12. Justin Brayton (14-9)
13. Ryan Sipes (13-14)
14. Malcolm Stewart (9-18)
15. Weston Peick (33-7)
16. Ben LaMay (16-13)
17. Nick Wey (17-17)
18. Michael Byrne (23-15)
19. Phil Nicoletti (15-37)
20. Zack Freeberg (22-16)
— Ryan Villopoto Wins 450 Moto 1 at Lake Elsinore
The Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot competition remains one of the few things still up for grabs in the 450 Class. The math today is simple – if Barcia holeshots Moto 2, he wins the $25,000 bonus prize. If Ryan Villopoto could take both Motorcycle Superstore Holeshots, he would take the title. If neither happens, then James Stewart wins despite sitting out this final race.
In Moto 1, Josh Grant played the spoiler role to Villopoto, beating him to the white line and eliminating the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider in the process. Having already won the Oakley Bomb Award this morning for the fastest lap time in practice, Grant got a great jump right off the gate drop and put himself comfortably in front of the field quickly.
Villopoto got off to a solid start but had to work his way around Brett Metcalfe and Justin Barcia to move into 2nd early in the race. Grant, who was faster than Villopoto in both practice sessions, proved to be a formidable match for this year’s champion. Villopoto caught Grant, inciting a duel for the lead that lasted nearly ten minutes. A mistake from Grant on one of the jumps sealed his fate, as Villopoto is the kind of rider who obviously knows how to capitalize on his opportunities. Once Villopoto made the pass around the 19-minute-to-go mark, he just checked out. Because he was injured last season, Villopoto has never ridden this track before, but that didn’t stop him from turning in a dominant performance today, winning by 27 seconds.
As the countdown clock neared the end, Ryan Dungey finally caught up to Josh Grant for 2nd place, and the JGR rider once again found himself in a hard-fought battle with one of the class’s elite riders. Despite a few small mistakes, Grant was able to hold him off for awhile until Dungey went inside of him with two laps to go and finally grabbed the spot.
After an excellent start, Brett Metcalfe faded back a bit, losing spots to Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard and Tyla Rattray. Metty settled in at 7th for awhile but gave up a few more positions to Andrew Short, Jake Weimer and Malcolm Stewart before the race’s end. Despite what he must consider a disappointment, Metcalfe still has yet to finish outside the top-ten in any of the five motos he’s run this year.
With the top five spots in 450 Class points already wrapped up, the highest stakes battle is between Jake Weimer and Andrew Short for 6th overall. Weimer enters the day six points up, but you can score this round to Shorty. The BTO Sports KTM rider picks up two points after finishing two spots ahead of Weimer and will try to overcome the remaining deficit in Moto 2.
Weston Peick has been a standout rider in limited races this year, beating plenty of factory riders on his privateer setup, but he ran into issues in the first moto, going a lap down after a fall. He eventually shut it down and will be credited with a DNF.
— Lake Elsinore 450 Moto 1 Results
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Ryan Dungey (-27.0 seconds)
3. Josh Grant
4. Trey Canard
5. Justin Barcia
6. Andrew Short
7. Tyla Rattray
8. Jake Weimer
9. Malcolm Stewart
10. Brett Metcalfe
11. Broc Tickle
12. Mike Alessi
13. Ryan Sipes
14. Justin Brayton
15. Phil Nicoletti
16. Ben LaMay
17. Nick Wey
18. Matt Goerke
19. Austin Howell
20. Derek Anderson
— Blake Baggett Wins 250 Moto 2 at Lake Elsinore, Gets Penalized One Spot
In a season that saw Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen dominate the 250 Class, last year’s champion has become a bit of a forgotten man. With the top two guys moving up to the 450 Class next year, Baggett is intent on reminding people that he should be considered the favorite in 2014. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider brought the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season to a conclusion with a victory in Moto 2 in Lake Elsinore, just his second moto win of the season… or so it seemed.
The gates dropped with Zach Osborne winning his second Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot of the day. It was an odd moto for Osborne who repeatedly gave up positions only to come back into the fray later. He lost the lead to rookie Cooper Webb early in the race and faded back a bit after that. Osborne fell as far back as 6th but bounced back to take 4th place in the moto.
After a good start, Baggett survived a near-crash on the first lap to check in at 4th place. Ken Roczen was riding in front of him and in position to make a run at the sweep but things were derailed after a crash. Roczen went into a turn a little high and got a bit out of control. As he tried to check up, he ran into the rear tire of Osborne and went down. The fall sent Roczen back several spots and although he battled his way back up to 7th, the hopes for a sweep to end the year were dashed.
About four and a half minutes into the moto, Baggett had caught Webb up front and challenged him for the lead. Baggett went to the inside and seemed to make the pass but Webb battled back and got his bike back in front. As they went up the hill, Baggett drifted towards Webb and after making a bit of contact, was able to make the pass for the lead stick. Even once Tomac eventually got into second, Baggett was able to continue building his lead and wound up crossing the line 13 seconds ahead of the GEICO Honda rider.
The “win” did not come without some controversy though. After the race, Baggett was penalized one position for leaving the ground on a red cross flag, a flag that Baggett says he didn’t see. The infraction moved Baggett down to 2nd and gave the official win to Eli Tomac. Baggett’s teammate Martin Davalos was also docked a position for the same thing.
Tomac’s charge up to second place was typical of his season. He didn’t get the best start, but kept working his way through the pack and and ultimately got himself high enough up the leaderboard to take the overall victory. He takes his seventh overall win of the year, although he does it without crossing the line first in either of the day’s motos.
The battle to round out the podium featured Jason Anderson and Cooper Webb about 11 minutes into the race. Anderson made a brilliant pass on the rookie, doubling over the last jump, landing in the rut on the inside of Webb and passing him for 3rd place. Anderson later crashed and pulled out of the moto, putting Webb back in the final podium spot for the moto and the overall.
The 250 Class looks to be wide open next year. Baggett ends the year with a bit of momentum and will be one of the favorites next year when he finally gets to adorn the iconic #4 on his bike outdoors. Marvin Musquin was unable to break out of his slump today, but should be in the mix next year as well. Meanwhile Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin both had one of their strongest rounds to date and could make a huge leap in their sophomore seasons.
That’s a wrap on the 2013 season. Now it’s almost time to wipe the slate clean, dive into Silly Season and prepare to do this all again next summer.
— Lake Elsinore 250 Moto 2 Results
1. Eli Tomac
2. Blake Baggett*
3. Cooper Webb
4. Zach Osborne
5. Jeremy Martin
6. Wil Hahn
7. Ken Roczen
8. Justin Hill
9. Martin Davalos*
10. Marvin Musquin
11. Justin Bogle
12. Cole Seely
13. Darryn Durham
14. Jessy Nelson
15. Matt Bisceglia
16. Ryan Zimmer
17. Shane McElrath
18. Jacob Baumert
19. Jake Mohnike
20. Brandon Scharer
*Penalized one position for jumping on a red cross flag
— Lake Elsinore 250 Class Overall Results
1. Eli Tomac (2-1)
2. Ken Roczen (1-7)
3. Cooper Webb (4-3)
4. Jeremy Martin (3-5)
5. Zach Osborne (5-4)
6. Wil Hahn (6-6)
7. Marvin Musquin (9-10)
8. Justin Bogle (8-11)
9. Blake Baggett (33-2)
10. Martin Davalos (11-9)
11. Justin Hill (13-8)
12. Cole Seely (10-12)
13. Jessy Nelson (12-14)
14. Darryn Durham (15-13)
15. Kyle Cunningham (7-35)
16. Matt Bisceglia (16-15)
17. Shane McElrath (18-17)
18. Adam Cianciarulo (14-40)
19. Ryan Zimmer (20-16)
20. Jason Anderson (17-32)
— Ken Roczen Snaps Tomac’s Streak, Wins 250 Moto 1 at Lake Elsinore
Whatever setup adjustments Ken Roczen’s team made to his bike last week seem to be working. The Red Bull KTM rider finally put an end to Eli Tomac’s streak of four straight sweeps.
It’s pretty much expected that the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot will go to a GEICO Honda rider, and this time it was Zach Osborne taking his 3rd of the year. He got to the white line first but was quickly passed by Roczen on the next turn. Roczen remained unchallenged for the rest of the moto, winning by 11 seconds.
This moto saw a series of uncharacteristic mistakes from 2013 champion Eli Tomac. While trying to catch and pass Jeremy Martin, Tomac went off the track a few times. He gave up a spot to Marvin Musquin in the process, but got it back after Musquin had a hard crash on one of the jumps that resulted in him nearly getting landed on. Early crashes also claimed Adam Cianciarulo and Martin Davalos, but they both were still able to earn top-15 finishes.
Tomac was eventually able to work his way around Star Yamaha’s rookie teammates Cooper Webb and Jeremy Martin to take over 2nd place, but he was too far behind Roczen by that point to make any noise. Tomac finishes inside the top-two for the 13th moto in a row, Martin has now podiumed in at least one moto in four of the last six rounds, and Webb notches his best moto result since Round 2. With titles already wrapped up, Lake Elsinore is about making a statement for next year, and the two Star Yamaha rookies are seving notice.
— Lake Elsinore 250 Moto 1 Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Eli Tomac (-11.5 seconds)
3. Jeremy Martin
4. Cooper Webb
5. Zach Osborne
6. Wil Hahn
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Justin Bogle
9. Marvin Musquin
10. Cole Seely
11. Martin Davalos
12. Jessy Nelson
13. Justin Hill
14. Adam Cianciarulo
15. Darryn Durham
16. Matt Bisceglia
17. Jason Anderson
18. Shane McElrath
19. Kyle Peters
20. Ryan Zimmer
— KTM Report
The Red Bull KTM Factory Team wrapped up a successful US Pro MX championships season at Lake Elsinore in California on Saturday with all three factory riders on the overall end-of-season podium. Ryan Dungey finished overall second in the 450-class and Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin, the team’s two European riders finishing 2-3 in the 250 class competition.
Dungey, who has been chosen to represent the USA at the Motocross of Nations at the end of September wrapped up his campaign with a familiar 2-2 result in the final round, proving that he has been one of the most consistent riders in the competition.
Roczen of Germany, who led the 250 class standings from most of the season took a moto win in the opener but crashed in the opening lap in his second race when he clipped the wheel of Zach Osborne and dropped down to fourteenth place. He got back in the action and crossed the line in seventh place to go on and wrap up his season in second overall.
It was also a tough night for the team’s French rider Musquin who had multiple crashes in his two races to come away to wrap up with a 9-10 result for seventh overall. He nevertheless still finished third overall in the championship to complete the factory team’s hat trick of having all of their three riders on the final championship podium.
— Earlier…. Reed to sit out Lake Elsinore National
TwoTwo Motorsports Chad Reed has confirmed he will not compete at this weekend’s final round of the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, opting to focus on preparing himself physically for 2014 and work on the teams future commercial arrangements.
A testament to his love of the sport, commitment to his sponsors and gratitude to his fans Reed, who has endured a tough season beset with injury and ill health, has soldiered on and at times, against medical advice.
The Australian’s 2013 campaign suffered a major setback before the season started with his knee not healing 100% and requiring further surgery.
“2013 was never going to be a good year for so many reasons.” Reed explained. “I am focused on ensuring that every detail, both on and off the track is covered 110% so we start next year with the momentum that we should.
“I am not finished not by a long shot and neither is TwoTwo Motorsports, our sole focus right now is to secure our commercial arrangements and partnerships to ensure we have a well funded, two rider team that is competing for wins and championships every time we are on the track.
“In hindsight maybe I should of stopped earlier in the season to focus on my health but I soldiered on both equally for the sponsors and the fans.
“It is now at the stage where there is no point in doing so. I am not riding to my full potential, I am not representing the sponsors in a way I am comfortable with nor am I giving the fans the show they expect of me or deserve,” Reed continued.