Villopoto Back Being Boss

USA Supercross 2014

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Rider interviews with  AndersonVillopotoOsbourneBrayton  &  Dungey 

Ryan Villopoto Blitzes Through the Field At Phoenix To Secure A Stunning Victory


Anderson Uses Last-Lap Pass for Second-Straight 250SX Class Win

In front of 49,834 fans inside Chase Field, reigning three-time 450SX Class Champion Ryan Villopoto won his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race of the season aboard his Monster Energy Kawasaki.  


Yoshimura Suzuki’s Australian import Matt Moss grabbed the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot Award to start the 20-lap 450SX Class Main Event, with Toyota/Yamaha/N-Fab/JGRMX’s Justin Brayton and Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey in tow. 

Villopoto started in ninth, behind the likes of Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart, Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia, and Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen

Brayton took over the lead after the second corner, bringing Dungey and Barcia with him. Barcia surged towards the front, passing Dungey for second and then setting his sights on the lead. Barcia briefly passed Brayton, but the Yamaha rider countered back, which allowed Dungey to reclaim second from Barcia. A six-rider battle ensued with Brayton, Dungey, Roczen, Barcia, Villopoto, and Stewart all within just a few seconds of one another. 

On Lap 7, Barcia and Roczen made contact while battling for third, sending Roczen to the ground. Villopoto pressured Barcia shortly thereafter and made the pass for third. 

As Dungey looked to make a move on Brayton, Villopoto closed in and made the pass for second on Lap 11. On Lap 13, Villopoto passed Brayton and fended off a late charge to win in Phoenix for the first time in the 450SX Class. 

“Justin was riding a hell of a race,” said Villopoto. “I have to give it to him, he made it tough. I didn’t get the start I wanted because the (starting) gate was slippery, but I just needed to be patient. 

"The Phoenix (track) gets really slick so I had to take my time and make sure my passes stuck," he added.

 

Brayton’s runner-up effort tied his career-best finish, which came in Toronto in 2012. 

“This feels so good,” Brayton exclaimed. “The new Yamaha is unbelievable. We did our homework this year. It’s been a lot of hard work, but being up [on the podium] pays off. 

"I was trying to pay attention to what was going on behind me but still look ahead. I did all I could to stay up front, but Ryan (Villopoto) got by me.” 

Dungey finished third, giving him back-to-back podium results. 

“That was a good opportunity to get a win,” said Dungey. “I kept making mistakes. I couldn’t get through the whoops, but all in all it was a good ride. 

"The track was super slippery and it caught us off guard but we still put in on the box.” 

With his win, the 35th of his career, Villopoto moves into the 450SX Class points lead. He holds a one-point advantage over Dungey. 

Australia's Chad Reed had a difficult night aboard his Discount Tyres Kawasaki KX450F, working his way to a ninth place finish after a bat start left him burried in the field. 

Matt Moss slowly slipped back through the field but held on for a great 11th place finish in just his second outing and in the process bettered his 13th place result from last weekend in A1. Moss was also able to post the 8th fastest lap time in the main event. 

The third Australian 450SX class rider, Lawson Bopping aboard his privateer Suzuki looked as though he was going to make it through to the nights main event early on in his Semi final race when he passed Moss for the lead. Unfortunatley for Bopping a mid race crash put him out of contention and into the LCQ where he suffered a bad start putting and end to his first AMA Supercross race. 

250SX


Webb pulled the first Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award of his career - Credit: Michael Bartovsky
 

For the second consecutive week, Rockstar Energy Racing’s Jason Anderson used a last-lap pass to post back-to-back victories in the Western Regional 250SX Class Championship. 

MyPlash/Metal Mulisha/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb raced to the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award to start the Western Regional 250SX Class Main Event. 

Webb held onto the lead for most of the opening lap until Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Cole Seely moved into the lead by passing both Webb and Anderson, who started in second. Webb went down moments later and lost several positions. 

Seely and Anderson opened a comfortable lead on the field, with Seely extending his advantage over Anderson for most of the 15-lap Main Event. As the leaders approached lappers in the late stages, Anderson reduced his deficit to mere bike lengths. 

On the final lap, Seely made a slight mistake, which allowed Anderson to challenge for the lead, making the pass with about a half lap remaining. 

“I was out for redemption tonight,” said Anderson, who failed to qualify for the Main Event in Phoenix the year prior. “I got a good start on my KTM, like I have been all season. 

I don’t plan on those last-lap passes, but it was there and I needed to take it. My goal is to keep control of the red number plate so I’ll do whatever it takes to do that. 

"I really want it," he concluded.


Anderson won three of his last four 250SX Class Main Events - Credit: Michael Bartovsky
 

For Seely it was the second weekend in a row where he was left feeling bummed after the race. 

“I’m bummed,” said Seely. “I’ve been battling stomach issues all week, so was struggling with that. I felt (my stomach) tighten up late in the race and I just made a mistake and Jason got me again.” 

GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson battled for the third position for the bulk of the Main Event, with Osborne eventually getting the edge to grab his second podium finish of the year. 

With Anderson, Seely, and Osborne on the podium, it duplicated the finishing order from last week’s opening race. Anderson’s lead in the championship sits at six points. 

Australia's representative in the 250SX West class, Red Bull KTM's Dean Ferris got the night off to a rough start when he crashed in the first turn of his heat race leaving him on the ground and at the back of the field. 

Never one to give up, Ferris put on a charge in just his second ever AMA Supercross event and was able to make a pass for the final qualifying spot directly out of the head on the last lap. 

Ferris started just outside the top ten when the field rounded the first turn in the main event and rode 15 consistent laps taking advantage of competitors mistakes to finish with a great 7th place finish and in doing so lifted himself to 10th place in the championship standings. 

Monster Energy Supercross returns to Anaheim and Angel Stadium for the third race of the 2014 season next weekend the 18th of January. The live will once again be aired live in Australian on ESPN on the Foxtel Network starting at 2.30pm AEDT. 

A2 will also see the series celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the championship with a throw back to the 80's theme.


450SX Main Event Results:
1. Ryan Villopoto - Kawasaki KX 450F
2. Justin Brayton - Yamaha YZ450F
3. Ryan Dungey - KTM 450 SX-F 
4. James Stewart - Suzuki RM-Z450
5. Justin Barcia - Honda CRF 450 
6. Ken Roczen - KTM 450 SX-F 
7. Andrew Short - KTM 450 SX-F 
8. Broc Tickle - Suzuki RM-Z450 
9. Chad Reed - Kawasaki KX 450F 
10. William Hahn - Honda CRF 450 
11. Matt Moss - Suzuki RM-Z450 
12. Ivan Tedesco - KTM 450 SX-F 
13. Nicholas Wey - Kawasaki KX 450F 
14. Vince Friese - Honda CRF 450 
15. Matthew Goerke - KTM 450 SX-F 
16. Kyle Chisholm - Yamaha YZ450F 
17. Mike Alessi - Suzuki RM-Z450 
18. Jacob Weimer - Kawasaki KX 450F
19. Kyle Partridge - Honda CRF 450 
20. Nicholas Schmidt - Honda CRF 450
21. Weston Peick - RM-Z450 
22. Chris Blose - Honda CRF 450 

450SX Championship Standings After Round 2 of 17:
1. Ryan Villopoto - 43 Pts
2. Ryan Dungey - 42 Pts
3. Ken Roczen - 40 Pts
4. Justin Brayton - 37 Pts
5. Chad Reed - 32 Pts
6. Justin Barcia - 32 Pts
7. Andrew Short - 26 Pts
8. Broc Tickle - 26 Pts
9. James Stewart - 22 Pts
10. William Hahn - 21 Pts
11. Matt Moss - 18 Pts
12. Joshua Grant - 14 Pts
13. Jacob Weimer - 14 Pts
14. Mike Alessi - 13 Pts
15. Ivan Tedesco - 10 Pts
16. Nicholas Wey - 8 Pts
17. Nicholas Schmidt - 8 Pts
18. Kyle Partridge - 8 Pts
19. Vince Friese - 7 Pts
20. Matthew Goerke - 7 Pts 
 

250SX Main Event Results:
1. Jason Anderson - KTM 250 SX-F 
2. Cole Seely - Honda CRF 250 
3. Zach Osborne - Honda CRF 250 
4. Dean Wilson - Kawasaki KX 250F
5. Malcolm Stewart - Honda CRF 250 
6. Cooper Webb - Yamaha YZ250F 
7. Dean Ferris - KTM 250 SX-F
8. Justin Hill - Kawasaki KX 250F
9. Jessy Nelson - Honda CRF 250 
10. Cole Martinez - Kawasaki KX 250F 
11. Scott Champion - Yamaha YZ250 
12. Shane Mcelrath - Honda CRF 250 
13. Austin Burns - Honda CRF 250 
14. Darryn Durham - Kawasaki KX 250F 
15. Chris Plouffe - Honda CRF 250 
16. Colton Aeck - Honda CRF 250 
17. Dakota Tedder - Kawasaki KX 250F 
18. Aaron Siminoe - KX 250F 
19. Ruben Alanis - KTM 250 SX-F 
20. Killian Auberson - KTM 250 SX-F 
21. Conner Elliott - Honda CRF 250 
22. Jake Canada - Honda CRF 250

250SX West Regional Championship Standings After Round 2 of 17:
1. Jason Anderson - 50 Pts
2. Cole Seely - 44 Pts
3. Zach Osborne - 40 Pts
4. Dean Wilson - 36 Pts
5. Cooper Webb - 31 Pts
6. Malcolm Stewart - 29 Pts
7. Justin Hill - 28 Pts
8. Jessy Nelson - 24 Pts
9. Darryn Durham - 21 Pts
10. Dean Ferris - 21 Pts
11. Shane Mcelrath - 14 Pts
12. Cole Martinez - 12 Pts
13. Scott Champion - 12 Pts
14. Dakota Tedder - 12 Pts
15. Austin Politelli - 11 Pts
16. Michael Lei - 10 Pts
17. Jake Canada - 10 Pts
18. Austin Burns - 8 Pts
19. Zachary Bell - 6 Pts
20. Chris Plouffe - 6 Pts 

Top Image: Villopoto earned the first 450Sx Class win of his career at Chase Field 

Credit: Michael Bartovsky

www.racerxonline.com  Report from Jason Weigandt  Photos by Simon Cudby

The results from round two of Monster Energy Supercross from Phoenix could look predictable in a way, since Ryan Villopoto completely and totally reminded the field that he's the boss of this sport. And Jason Anderson again used a last-lap pass to steal the 250SX West win from Cole Seely. But beneath all that laid a pair of nail-biting main events that still leave some heads scratching as we head back to California for round three next weekend. Here's how it looked from the desert tonight.

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Here's your first surprise--Justin Brayton (10) wrestles the early lead away from Matt Moss (102 in the yellow and blue gear) and immediately starts opening a gap. The KTM riders Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen were there, but a ton of favorites were way back.

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The mid-pack guys included Villopoto and James Stewart. RV was about tenth early and slowly went to work, taking the measure of Stewart as he came through.

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For a moment, early, Justin Barcia looked like the man to beat, and he sliced up to second and started working on Brayton. Then, suddenly, the Muscle Milk Honda rider started making mistakes and going backwards.

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Once Barcia dropped back it was Red Bull KTM rider Dungey's turn to take second and make a run at Brayton. But the JGR/Toyota Yamaha rider up front wasn't giving up any ground.

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The pack started battling something fierce from about second through fifth. In the battle, Villopoto slipped through to third, then Stewart and Barcia hooked up, and Barcia cut across the front wheel of...

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...last week's winner, Ken Roczen. Kenny went down and said he'll be looking for revenge on Barcia soon. He finished sixth.

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Showing no mercy once up to speed, Villopoto passed Dungey for second and then went after Brayton.

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He made the pass through a short rhythm lane, but...

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...Brayton had impressive whoop speed and was able to show RV a wheel. Villopoto pulled a small gap but made a mistake late, letting Brayton close right back to him on the last lap. He pulled alongside the champ in the whoops and showed him a wheel again with a half lap to go!

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Villopoto took the win on his Monster Energy Kawasaki, Brayton was second. Dungey got held up by a lapper and couldn't triple a rhythm lane with three laps to go, and couldn't quite climb back into the battle. He finished third.

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In the 250s, Yamalube Star Yamaha rider Cooper Webb snagged the holie. But notice Anderson (17) and Seely (21) right there ready to battle.

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Once again, Lucas Oil/TLD Honda's Seely got around Anderson and Anderson gave chase while they pulled away from the field. It was exactly like Anaheim 1.

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Dean Wilson was fourth early behind Shane McElrath but made some mistakes trying to make the pass. Soon, Anderson and Seely got away. Then McElrath got run into by Webb, resulting in both riders hitting the ground. Zach Osborne (16) got past them to give chase to Wilson for third.

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Incredibly, on the last lap Anderson again struck on Seely, finding a better line, getting to the inside and making the pass--it wasn't quite as aggressive as last week's Anaheim move, but it got the job done.

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Anderson has back-to-back wins to open the season on his Rockstar KTM.

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Another solid run by Osborne on the GEICO Honda, who got around Wilson for third.

 
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