The defending Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champ becomes the first two-time 450cc winner of the season tonight in Oakland.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto became the first rider two card to 450cc main event wins in the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross season when he claimed the 450cc Supercross victory at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, California, tonight.
Tonight’s win was the 36th of Villopoto’s AMA Supercross career, and it gave the three-time and defending Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion a statistical, if not psychological, advantage over his competition: The first rider to win two rounds in a given AMA Supercross season has come away with the series title 65% of the time.
“I felt pretty good in that main event,” Villopoto said afterward. “Obviously, James (Stewart) had a little trick up his sleeve (quadruple jumping in a rhythm section) after the start there. I kind of felt like it was faster, not that I really needed to do it in that 20 laps. Everything was good. The bike was great.”
Villopoto’s Oakland win wasn’t gate-to-flag, however, as Justin Brayton and Vince Friese led the 22-rider field through the first turn when the gate dropped for the 20-lap 450cc main event, but Villopoto shot past Brayton to second place before the race was half a lap old after Brayton was balked by Friese in the Thor right-hander. Villopoto then passed Friese for the lead just after the split rhythm section to take the lead. Reed was also on the gas, and he moved into second place behind Villopoto through the next whoop section. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey ran fifth early, followed by GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn, Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart and Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen.
Then Stewart began to move forward, cutting inside Hahn in a left-hand corner to take over fifth-place on lap four. Muscle Milk Honda’s Justin Barcia then stuffed Hahn into the Tuf Blox in another left-hand corner on the same lap and took over sixth while Hahn lost even more positions. Barcia crashed later in the main event, costing himself a shot at the podium.
Brayton, Dungey and Stewart battled for third place as the race contined. Stewart made a clean pass on Dungey to run fourth on lap five, and then stalked Brayton for third.
Up front, Villopoto inched away from Reed but then yielded ground when he bobbled in one rhythm section and Reed subsequently quadruple jumped the same rhtyhm section that Stewart had wired. Villopoto quickly recovered and picked up the pace, however, pulling a three-second lead over Reed just before the halfway point.
Meanwhile, Stewart, who had dispensed with Brayton, took the battle to Reed for second place. It would turn out to be the best head-to-head battle of the night as Villopoto continued to check out on the field. Stewart finally got past Reed for second place at about the same time that series points leader Roczen made his way past Brayton for fifth place.
But even with eight laps to go, Stewart couldn’t cut far enough into Villopoto’s lead to change the outcome of the race, as Villopoto crossed the finish line with about a 3.5-second gap over Stewart, while Reed held off a late-race charge by Dungey to secure third place.
Villopoto now has two Oakland Supercross wins in a row, but more importantly, he has retaken the series points lead from Roczen, who wound up sixth tonight, behind Brayton. Roczen’s finish dropped him to third place in the standings, behind Reed, in a series that promises to be extremely competitive if all the main title combatants can stay healthy. Villopoto expects the racing to be close every weekend.
“It’s going to be like that all year, so you have to have a great team behind you and a great bike underneath you like I have,” Villopoto said. “We’ll go back and do some more work this week, and see if we can get better.”
Stewart clearly looked as good this week, or better, as he did when he finished second at Anaheim II a week ago.
“This is the best I’ve rode since Anaheim (I),” Stewart said. “I’m finally getting rid of that cold, so that makes it a little bit easier when the endurance is starting to come back. But I suck on my starts. I pulled the holeshot in the heat race, but I blew it in the main event. I just had to make some passes and take some chances. I was closing down on Ryan just little by little, and then I almost crashed in the whoops. So I was like, ‘You know what? Second is okay tonight.'”
Reed proved that he still has plenty of fight left, as he backed up his Anaheim II win with another podium finish in Oakland.
“For me, that quad (jump) drove me nuts all day long,” Reed said. “I wanted to do it and didn’t do it, then finally went for it in the main. I was just inconsistent, and it was throwing my lap off. I knew it was faster. I knew I had it, but yeah, it just kind of jacked me a little bit there, but I’m pumped on a podium (finish). I got great starts. It was just a solid week, and I want to keep doing this.”
Rockstar Energy KTM rider Jason Anderson had another stellar night in the AMA 250cc Western Region Supercross Series, scoring his third main event win in four rounds to retake the series points lead.
This win was more of a gift than the others, however, as Anderson was in the right place in the right time when Dean Wilson had trouble late in the race. Anderson rounded the first turn of the 15-lap main event in third place, behind Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Wilson and Justin Hill, and had to fend off early aggression by GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne and Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Malcolm Stewart. Wilson then bobbled in a rhythm section near the end of the first lap, dropping to third, handing the lead to Hill while Anderson moved into second place.
Anderson wasted no time in going after Hill, and he stayed on the attack. Hill was able to open up a gap on Anderson for a couple laps, but Anderson and Wilson soon closed that gap. Clearly aware that Wilson was on the charge, Anderson pressured Hill on lap seven, and when Hill went wide through the left-hand sweeper by the mechanics’ area, Anderson drove underneath him and snatched the lead. Hill and Wilson fought right back by diving under Anderson in the next corner to give the Oakland fans a great three-rider battle. Wilson then took the lead just before the halfway point in the race.
Anderson finally got past Hill over a triple jump on lap eight, and he set off after Wilson, who managed to pull out a 1.5-second advantage. Wilson appeared to have the race in hand until his bike suddenly stalled, forcing him to roll a jump on the final lap. Anderson was there to seize the opportunity, and he jumped past Wilson to take the lead and hold on for his third 250cc West victory in four rounds of racing.
“That one I think I actually kind of got lucky with Dean stalling his bike,” Anderson admitted afterward. “But you know I was putting up a fight to the end, and I would have brought it all the way to the finish line. And that’s just my plan every race, you know? As long as I can be in that lead battle, that’s what I want. I’m just happy to be up here again and get that points lead back.”
Wilson managed to finish second, but he was obviously disappointed with the result after holding such a clear advantage with the finish line practically in sight.
“It’s a shame,” Wilson said. “I really felt awesome that race. I thought I had it. It sucks. I just came around the corner and had a bit of a mechanical malfunction. It (the bike) just died on me. It’s just unfortunate, but what do you do? I’m just doing my best every weekend, and it’s not going as planned, but I’m not giving up. I’ll just move on to next weekend. I feel like we made some big improvements.”
Hill’s third-place finish was the best of his young career, marking his first visit to a Monster Energy Supercross podium.
“I’ve been working so hard—it’s a pretty good feeling,” Hill said. “I am a little bit bummed that I wasn’t able to win that thing, because I put myself in a great position. But, you know, I’ve got to take the good from it. It’s a podium, so I’ll definitely take it. We’ve to go back and do some more homework and try to get a W before this thing is over. But I’ll tell you, third, being up here on the box, is a good place to start.”
Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely finished fourth, and while it cost him the series points lead, he only trails Anderson by six points with half four more west rounds yet to be run. Osborne finished fifth.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads back to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, next weekend, for the third and final time in the 2014 season.
O.co Coliseum
Oakland, California
Results: January 25, 2014 (Round 4 of 17)
450cc Main
1. Ryan Villopoto-Kaw
2. James Stewart-Suz
3. Chad Reed-Kaw
4. Ryan Dungey-KTM
5. Justin Brayton-Yam
6. Ken Roczen-KTM
7. Justin Barcia-Hon
8. Wil Hahn-Hon
9. Jake Weimer-Kaw
10. Andrew Short-KTM
11. Josh Grant-Yam
12. Ivan Tedesco-KTM
13. Mike Alessi-Suz
14. Vince Friese-Hon
15. Nick Wey-Kaw
16. Matt Goerke-KTM
17. Kyle Chisholm-Yam
18. Jimmy Albertson-Hon
19. Nicholas Schmidt-Hon
20. Jimmy Decotis-Hon
21. Kyle Partridge-Hon
22. Weston Peick-Suz
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (After 4 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Villopoto-84/2 wins
2. Chad Reed-77/1 win
3. Ken Roczen-75/1 win
4. Ryan Dungey-75
5. Justin Brayton-71
6. James Stewart-66
7. Justin Barcia-56
8. Andrew Short-49
9. Wil Hahn-43
10. Jake Weimer-37
250cc Main
1. Jason Anderson-KTM
2. Dean Wilson-Kaw
3. Justin Hill-Kaw
4. Cole Seely-Hon
5. Zach Osborne-Hon
6. Michael Lieb-Hon
7. Jessy Nelson-Hon
8. Shane McElrath-Hon
9. Cooper Webb-Yam
10. Dean Ferris-KTM
11. Jake Canada-Hon
12. Scott Champion-Yam
13. Dakota Tedder-Kaw
14. Valentin Teillet-Kaw
15. Topher Ingalls-Hon
16. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
17. Cole Martinez-Kaw
18. Brandon Scharer-Suz
19. Ruben Alanis-KTM
20. Austin Burns-Hon
21. Brian Burns-KTM
22. Aaron Siminoe-Kaw
AMA 250cc Western Region Supercross Series Points (After 4 of 8 rounds)
1. Jason Anderson-93/3 wins
2. Cole Seely-87/1 win
3. Dean Wilson-72
4. Zach Osborne-69
5. Cooper Webb-65
6. Justin Hill-64
7. Malcolm Stewart-54
8. Jessy Nelson-49
9. Shane McElrath-42
10. Dean Ferris-42
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