Unadilla Preview
AMA MX
By Byron Wilson
Click here for the Una dilla Track Map
The 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
is drawing to a close, with the upcoming Built Ford Tough Unadilla National
marking the first of three consecutive race weekends to finish off the season.
The 2013 round in central New York will mark the 28th time American pro
motocross has raced at Unadilla, but this year things will be a little
different. There’s a new 80-foot jump into the bottom of the Gravity Cavity
followed by a sweeping bowl turn, giving spectators new vantage points along
the historic track and a new tunnel was installed as well to help fans move
around the grounds more easily.
The championship battle continues in the 450 ranks, thanks to Ryan Villopoto’s
uncharacteristic 6-4 finish in the previous round at Spring Creek.
The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider went down on Lap 1 of Moto 1 and fell to the
back of the pack, requiring him to battle through the field to salvage as many
points as possible. In Moto 2 Villopoto was stuck well outside the lead pack
after a terrible start and had to play catch-up a second time, making for his
worst round of the entire season.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey is Villopoto’s primary contender for the 2013 title,
sitting 34 points back in second overall. The 2012 Nationals champ did what he
could at his home track in Millville to bridge the gap between himself and RV,
but a derailed chain in Moto 1 forced him to stop briefly to repair his
machine, leaving him outside the top-10. He battled back up to fifth-place
before the checkers, but only gained one point on the Kawasaki ace in the moto.
Dungey came out swinging in Moto 2, taking the win and cutting Villopoto’s lead
by seven more points.
Villopoto was absent from the 2012 season due to injury, but in 2011 he went
1-1 at Unadilla ahead of Dungey, who went 2-2. RV will be keen to see a repeat
of that performance this year and Dungey will undoubtedly fight with everything
he’s got to chip more points from Villopoto’s advantage and keep hopes of
defending his title alive. Dungey’s drive may well be enhanced this weekend,
too, by the fact that it was at Unadilla that he secured the 2012 championship.
The performance of others in the field could shake things up further for the
two front runners. Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart appears to have shaken some
of the bad luck that’s caused him to take two zero-points earning motos and a
handful of other disappointing finishes outside the top 10. Bubba won his first
overall of the year at Spring Creek, going 1-3, which came after two previous
rounds where he finished 2-2 (Red Bud)
and 3-3 (Washougal).
Stewart contested the Unadilla round as one of his few attempts to return to
action during the tumultuous 2012 season, but he was markedly out of sorts due
to multiple injuries and finished 9-35.
Another rider to watch as a potential front-pack contender is Team Honda Muscle
Milk’s Justin Barcia. Both Barcia and Stewart are in contention for the Motorcycle-Superstore.com Holeshot
Championship, with Stewart leading by one point over Barcia. Those fast starts
have given them both the chance to fight in or just outside the lead pack, and
in Barica’s case have contributed to seven podium finishes so far this year.
Barcia’s teammate, Trey Canard, has been a regular contender for the number
four through seven positions during much of the current year, but at Spring
Creek showed a pace that nearly earned him the Moto 1 win. The Oklahoma
native’s 2-2 finish was his best of the season, and if he’s able to carry that
momentum to Unadilla, he too could be a factor in the battle for the podium.
In the 250 division, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac is on a hot streak, having swept
the previous two rounds at Washougal and Spring Creek. He comes to the round at
Unadilla with a 27-point advantage over Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, who sits
second overall. Tomac has been on the podium in all but three of the 18 motos
this year and has nine wins to his credit. The Honda ace took second overall at
the New York track in 2012, where he went 6-1.
Roczen went 1-6 at Unadilla in 2012 and is by no means out of the running for
the 2013 championship. He’s been as consistent as Tomac in earning podiums this
year, missing only three to date, and he has seven wins to his credit. Roczen
would be much closer to Tomac’s overall total if he hadn’t endured a tough off
in Moto 1 at Spring Creek, which saw him hit the ground hard and take a DNF. He
rallied in Moto 2 to finish second and will be drawing upon the same fire in
Unadilla to keep himself in range of the championship.
Roczen’s teammate, Marvin Musquin, earned his first overall victory at Unadilla
in 2012, where he went 2-3, marking his best result ever at the track. With a
good start, Musquin could well be a podium threat again this year.
Fourth in overall points, Blake Baggett of Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki is
beyond reasonable reach of defending his 2012 title, but he still has plenty of
fight left. Baggett made the podium in third-place at Spring Creek in Moto 2
and though he’s struggled with a wrist injury throughout the season, he’s been
a podium challenger in nearly half the motos through the past eight rounds.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
