Villopoto leads Reed by nine points with one round to run
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto won his sixth Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race tonight at Rice Eccles Stadium in front of 39,329 fans. GIECO Honda’s Eli Tomac rode a flawless 15 laps en route to his second Western Regional Supercross Lites class win of the season.
Team San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart opened the Supercross class main event with the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot with TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed in tow. Villopoto started fourth and moved into third place on lap 2.
Villopoto moved around Reed on lap 8 to secure second place. On the same lap, Stewart crashed and moments after remounting, he crashed again and lost several positions, handing the lead over to Villopoto. Reed moved into second and Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey moved into third, where they would finish. Stewart finished 10th.
Villopoto has a nine-point lead over Reed heading into the finals next weekend at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium
“We have all done our work this year, and it is paying off,” said Villopoto. “It is a lot easier going into Vegas with a nine-point lead. Hopefully, I will be standing on top of the box next weekend.”
Tomac started the Western Regional Supercross Lites class main event with the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen, who came into tonight’s race two points out of the championship points race, and his teammate Broc Tickle following in second and third, respectively.
On lap 2, Hansen attempted to make a pass on Tomac and crashed. Following the crash Hansen was stuck under his bike and lost valuable positions before re-joining the race near last place. On lap 7, Red Bull/KTM Racing’s Ken Roczen moved around Tickle to assume second place.
“Tonight’s track was technical, and it was hard to make passes,” said Tickle. “I am not happy because I wanted to win. I want to be strong heading into Las Vegas next weekend.”
Roczen finished second and Tickle finished third. Tomac moved within two points of Tickle’s championship points lead heading into next weekend’s season finale.
“That was out of control for me tonight,” said Tomac. “Hansen (Josh), and I got into one another, and I had to lean into him; that’s just racing. I’ve dreamed of winning the championship as a rookie, and I am getting closer.”
The Monster Energy Supercross finals take place next weekend at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium, where the Supercross class, Western/Eastern Regional Supercross Lites class champions will be crowned.
| Open Race Result Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Honda Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM Davi Millsaps, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki Tommy Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Yamaha Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C, Yamaha James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha | Open Standings Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki – 318 Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Honda – 309 Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki – 306 James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha – 295 Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda – 255 Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM – 214 Kevin Windham, Centreville, Miss., Honda – 202 Davi Millsaps, Carlsbad, Calif., Yamaha – 172 Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C, Yamaha – 153 Nick Wey, Dewitt, Mich., Yamaha – 139 |
| Lites Race Result Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki Cole Seely, Corona, Calif., Honda Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha Tyla Rattray, Wildomar, Calif., Kawasaki Ryan Morais, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki Travis Baker, Temecula, Calif., Honda Ben Evans, Garden City, Idaho, Kawasaki | Lites West Standings Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki – 165 Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 163 Josh Hansen, Elbert, Colo., Kawasaki – 151 Cole Seely, Corona, Calif., Honda – 131 Ryan Morais, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki – 124 Tyla Rattray, Wildomar, Calif., Kawasaki – 111 Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM – 105 Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha – 105 Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki – 95 Ben Evans, Garden City, Idaho, Kawasaki – 68 |
– Reed Report
Reed maintains second with a podium in Salt Lake City
Australian Supercross star Chad Reed has finished second at the penultimate round of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship at Salt Lake City’s Rice Eccles Stadium tonight.
The two-time AMA/World Supercross Champion, who launched his own team just weeks before the start of the season, recorded TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing’s tenth podium of the year.
With additional factory support from American Honda for the weekend, Reed expressed his intentions early, winning his heat race over six seconds ahead of Kevin Windham and Ryan Villopoto.
The all-time AMA Supercross podium leader got a good start in the 20-lap ‘Main Event’ but a couple of small errors afforded his championship rival the opportunity to pass him on lap 8 of the race.
Reed pushed hard over the closing laps but was unable to make a clean pass and crossed the chequered flag just .95 of a second behind Villopoto.
Sitting nine points shy of the championship leader and three points ahead of defending champion Ryan Dungey, Reed acknowledged it was potentially still anyone’s for the taking at the final round of the series in Las Vegas next weekend.
“I was a bit disappointed with myself tonight.” Reed admitted. “I had a great heat race but I don’t think I rode hard enough from the start of the Main.
“It could have been a better day but I am still in it and the pressure is all on Ryan from here.
“Vegas is without a doubt my favourite event on the calendar and I have nothing to lose. I will hang it all the line and see where we end up.
“This years series has seen more twists and turns than any other so I doubt it is over yet,” Reed concluded.
The final instalment of the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship to play out at Las Vegas Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday 7th May.
– KTM Report
Roczen Earns 2nd at Salt Lake City Supercross
Red Bull/KTM’s German sensation, Ken Roczen, earned his career best Supercross Lites finish and his second podium of the season with a 2nd place result at the penultimate round of the West Supercross Lites Series held in Salt Lake City, UT.
Roczen, who celebrated his seventeenth birthday the day before the race, collected the best gift he could hope for – a season best finish. Roczen started the day well turning lap times within the top five in practice which led to a great gate pick in his heat.
When the gate dropped for the first Lites heat it was Roczen’s orange machine at the front of the pack. After pulling the holeshot, Roczen was passed by Tomac and dropped to 2nd. “I made a few mistakes in the heat race. I was still trying to adjust to the track and was glad to take away 2nd,” remarked Roczen.
In the main event, Roczen got off to another decent start rounding the first corner in 6th position. Josh Hansen fell while attempting a block pass on Eli Tomac and handed Roczen 5th position. Still on the opening lap, Roczen passed Broc Tickle and moved into 4th. He spent the next half of the race working his way into 2nd. Once in 2nd position, he held tight and fought his way to earn the runner-up spot on the podium.
“I am very excited to top my best finish in my first race back,” stated Roczen. “The time change is always difficult for me when I come back from Europe and I felt a little tired tonight and was glad to put a decent race together with such short time back in the U.S.”
Roczen wasn’t the only Red Bull/KTM rider to put in a decent night. His Supercross teammate Andrew Short had a great night finishing 4th overall. Short looked solid from the first practice all the way to the final checkered flag.
Short started the main event in 8th place and worked his way up throughout the twenty lap main. He never gave up a position, only took them away from others as he climbed his way through the pack. By the end of the race Short had moved into a remarkable 4th place position.
“The past two weeks we have seen tremendous improvement in Short’s riding. He has stepped up his practice times and remained consistent in the races. We are very proud of the progress he has made – he earned every position tonight,” commented Red Bull/KTM Team Coordinator Casey Lytle.
Short’s teammate, Mike Alessi, was not as fortunate in the main event. Alessi had a bad crash in the beginning of the race when he came together with Chris Blose. He was slow to get up and once recovered, tried to ride for a few more laps. Unfortunately, he did not feel well enough to finish the race and he pulled off and returned to the pits for further evaluation.
