Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship – Round 11 of 12 – Tooele, Utah – August 18, 2013
—Â Ryan Villopoto Clinches 2013 Championship with 450 Moto 2 Win in Utah
Ryan Villopoto has officially proven to be the best rider of this year’s 450 Class as he sweeps the Built Ford Tough Utah National and wins his second championship in the premier class. The win in the second moto makes it 4 straight moto victories, as the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider will complete the season with his name atop the point standings throughout all 12 rounds. Villopoto managed to best a field that included several past champions, including 2012’s top dog Ryan Dungey, James Stewart, and Chad Reed. Villopoto’s first 450 championship came in 2011, and after an injury-plagued 2012, he secures his place in history as a repeat champion and will go into 2014 as the heavy favorite for a third.
RV2 didn’t manage to take the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot, ending his streak at three, as that went to Ryan Sipes for the first time this season. But Villopoto passed the Rockstar Racing rider before the end of the first lap and went on to win by 15 seconds over Dungey.
Dungey gave it his best effort in this one but wasn’t able to give Villopoto a fight. He finishes the day second overall (2-2) and is guaranteed to finish as the runner-up in points. With Canard behind Dungey in 3rd, the Moto 2 and the overall podiums were the same as Moto 1.
Justin Barcia finished 4th to go 11-4 on the day and secure the 3-spot in points. His biggest threat to the position entering today was James Stewart, but the Yoshimura Suzuki rider didn’t line up for Moto 2 after being forced to pull out of the first moto.
Privateer Weston Peick’s 5-5 results land him 4th overall for the day. Peick has looked strong in all of the races he has made it to this season and today’s performance really solidifed his case to land a decent ride next year.
Villopoto’s Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Jake Weimer finished the race 6th. He moves past Andrew Short in the point standings to take over sixth place. Justin Brayton, Phil Nicoletti and Andrew Short finished 7-9, and Ben LaMay made an appearance made his first appearance inside the top ten. Lamay’s 13-10 lands him at 10th overall and along with Weston Peick, he is one of today’s best stories.
Several big names were unable to earn points in the second moto. Chad Reed and James Stewart did not start Moto 2, while Mike Alessi didn’t race at all this weekend due to injury. Difficult conditions also left three riders (Tyla Rattray, Ryan Sipes, Malcolm Stewart) who finished inside the top ten in Moto 1 outside of the top-20 in Moto 2. With a 32nd-place finish, Broc Tickle’s streak of scoring points in every single 450 moto this year is snapped. (Villopoto and Barcia are now the only riders left with this stat to their credit for 2013.)
Villopoto will race in Lake Elsinore with no pressure and then undergo ankle surgery after the season ends, putting him out of commission for the Motocross des Nations competition.
Utah 450 Class Overall Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (2-2)
3. Trey Canard (3-3)
4. Weston Peick (5-5)
5. Justin Brayton (6-7)
6. Justin Barcia (11-4)
7. Jake Weimer (8-6)
8. Phil Nicoletti (12-8)
9. Matt Goerke (9-11)
10. Ben LaMay (13-10)
11. Andrew Short (15-9)
12. Tyla Rattray (4-25)
13. Ryan Sipes (7-26)
14. Evgeny Mikhaylov (18-12)
15. Nick Wey (17-13)
16. Malcolm Stewart (10-29)
17. Akira Narita (23-14)
18. Derek Anderson (19-16)
19. Broc Tickle (14-32)
20. Michael Byrne (21-15)
Updated Point Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto, 513
2. Ryan Dungey, -50
3. Justin Barcia, -138
4. Trey Canard, -210
5. James Stewart, -224
6. Jake Weimer, -269
7. Andrew Short, -275
8. Broc Tickle, -297
9. Josh Grant, -305
10. Mike Alessi, -309
— Eli Tomac Secures 2013 250 Class Championship with Moto 2 Win in Utah
Eli Tomac is the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross champion in the 250 Class. In one of the most dramatic and competitive motos of the season, Tomac takes his eighth straight moto win and, with some last-minute help from Blake Baggett, earns the title.
Tomac had more trouble than he has in the past few rounds getting to the front of the pack but managed to get by Darryn Durham and Justin Bogle to set up a battle with Ken Roczen for the top spot. With the wind picking up and dust starting to fly around the track, the two went head-to-head. Roczen led much of the moto but Tomac caught up to him, and the two went back and forth as the countdown clock ran down to about 3 minutes to go. Tomac eventually made the pass stick and put some distance ahead of Roczen.
Despite giving up the lead, Roczen still could have brought the battle for the championship to Lake Elsinore by holding on to second place, but Blake Baggett suddenly emerged as a spoiler. By the time the white flag came out, Baggett was in position to challenge Roczen, and he finally got him on the final turn and jump of the race. That one pass allowed Tomac to not just win, but also bring a championship home to the GEICO Honda rig.
Baggett finishes the day 2-2 for second overall, ahead of Roczen (4-3) on the overall podium. Rozen has secured second place for the season, while Baggett and Musquin, separated by just 15 points, will battle for 3rd place in the final round of the season.
Justin Bogle turned a Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot into a 4th place finish and continues his recent string of strong races. Darryn Durham was just behind Bogle on the start and finishes the moto right behind him in 5th as well.
Jeremy Martin has led all rookies in the point standings and finishes 6th in the moto, in front of fellow rookie Cooper Webb who capped off a solid 7-7 day. Musquin finished 8th and has been in a bit of a slump lately. Adam Cianciarulo had his best day as a professional with another top ten ride, going 3-9 for 4th overall. Another GEICO Honda rider, Zach Osborne, took the final spot in the top ten.
Unpredictable and strong wind gusts through a curveball into the second moto but the riders seemed to handle it well after a very competitive start that featured the top nine riders all within 10 seconds of each other two laps into the race. One of those riders was Matt Bisceglia. After a great start that put him in 8th after the first lap, the rookie faded back to 17th.
Martin Davalos, who took a Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot earlier in the day, and Michael Leib, making his American motocross debut, were unable to finish the race.
Tomac will finish his career in the 250 Class with a championship before moving up to a big bike in 2014 for one of the most anticipated 450 Class debuts in years. With many of the top ten spots still up for grabs, Lake Elsinore should be a great end to the 2013 season, but Tomac and Ryan Villopoto have already accomplished their missions one week early.
Utah 250 Class Overall Results
1. Eli Tomac (1-1)
2. Blake Baggett (2-2)
3. Ken Roczen (4-3)
4. Adam Cianciarulo (3-9)
5. Justin Bogle (9-4)
6. Darryn Durham (8-5)
7. Marvin Musquin (5-8)
8. Cooper Webb (7-7)
9. Zach Osborne (6-10)
10. Justin Hill (10-14)
11. Wil Hahn (12-13)
12. Jeremy Martin (37-6)
13. Jessy Nelson (14-15)
14. Cole Seely (19-12)
15. Kyle Cunningham (36-11)
16. Martin Davalos (11-37)
17. Shane McElrath (17-16)
18. Alex Martin (15-19)
19. Jason Anderson (13-28)
20. Matt Bisceglia (20-17)
Updated 250 Class Point Standings
1. Eli Tomac, 505
2. Ken Roczen, -51
3. Marvin Musquin, -117
4. Blake Baggett, -132
5. Zach Osborne, -183
6. Justin Bogle, -237
7. Jeremy Martin, -241
8. Jason Anderson, -249
9. Cooper Webb, -288
10. Kyle Cunningham, -291
