Villopoto wraps up the title early, and Kawasaki’s young lions have big day in the 250cc class at Miller Motorsports Park
The following is a press release from Kawasaki:
Park in Tooele, Utah.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto dominated en route to the 2013 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 450cc championship as he ran away with both motos at Miller Motorsports Park, just outside of Salt Lake City. Villopoto’s 1-1 finish gave him an insurmountable 50-point lead in the championship standings. In the 250cc class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett made some patented late race moves to finish 2-2 for second overall. Rookie Adam Cianciarulo scored his first moto podium with a third place finish in Moto 1, but a crash at the start of Moto 2 saw him move from 40th up to ninth to earn a career best fourth overall. Darryn Durham put in a good ride, scoring 8-5 for sixth overall. His rookie teammate, Justin Hill, also scored a top-10 finish. Martin Davalos rocketed to the holeshot in Moto 1 but difficulties in Moto 2 saw him finish 16th overall. In the 450cc class, Jake Weimer earned a top-10 result with a seventh overall while Tyla Rattray was able to score a fourth in Moto 1, but mechanical problems in the second moto led to a DNF and 12th overall.
Villopoto’s ninth AMA title helps to move him to the rarefied air of motocross legends as he has claimed every championship he has started over the last three years. This title was a dominating performance for Villopoto as he came out of the gate with five straight moto wins and now has 16 moto victories and seven overall wins.
“This season has been a good one for me and the team,” said Villopoto. “We worked really well together to improve the bike every week. We would spend a lot of time during the week testing and to have all that hard work pay off is awesome.”
Baggett put in two great rides on the dusty track coming from behind in each moto to finish second. In the first moto, Baggett didn’t get the start he was looking for and had to work his way up from outside the top 10. In the second moto, it was more of the same as he worked his way up through the field. This time it took a dramatic last lap where he and another rider traded the second position multiple times.
“Today was a good day for me,” said Baggett. “I didn’t get the starts I wanted, but I feel like my rides were some of my best this season. This track made you work for everything and I‘m glad to back up on the podium. We have one more race this season and I want to get up to the top step.”
Cianciarulo had the best result of his rookie campaign earning his first moto podium in Moto 1 and then overcoming a crash at the start of Moto 2 to move from 35th place to ninth. In the first moto, the Floridian got a great start off the gate and came out in fourth place. He put together his most consistent ride of the season working his way up to second, before getting passed late in the moto by his teammate Baggett.
“It feels great to get a podium finish in a moto,” said Cianciarulo “I know this is where I need to be. On the first start I picked a line through the first corners and I’m not sure why it worked but I came out with the leaders so that was good. Unfortunately I wasn’t as lucky in the second moto, I had a bike run over my stomach during the first turn crash, but I knew I could salvage a good finish and I did.”
Miller Motorsports Park proved to be a great venue for motocross as all of the riders enjoyed not only the track at the facility, but all of the other motorsports activities that were available to them. Villopoto took an off-road driving class with his wife on Friday while most of the mechanics took at least one turn at the go-kart track just outside the pits.
Next weekend the AMA Pro Motocross Championship wraps up the 2013 season with a return to Lake Elsinore MX Park. Temperatures are expected to be a lot more comfortable this year, as the mercury isn’t expected to get into triple digits.
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