AMA – the story so far
By TMX Archives on 5th Apr 13
Twelve frantic rounds have passed in the Monster Energy and AMA World Supercross calendar and after 12 weeks straight the series finally took a brief break over the Easter holidays.
It was a chance for teams to re-group, re-test and gear-up for the final onslaught of the remaining five weekends.
It may only seem like yesterday that Anaheim hosted the opening round, but a lot has happed since January 6, including a total of 10,888 miles travelled.
The atmosphere at the opening round of the series inside Anaheim's famous Angel Stadium was electric, as fans watched an unbelievable line-up of stars take to the gate.
Riders included reigning AMA Supercross Champion, Ryan Villopoto, AMA Outdoor Champion, Ryan Dungey and
previous AMA Supercross winners, James Stewart, and Chad Reed, to name but a few.
Following a dominant performance in 2012, most fans were under the impression that Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto would head the field, without too much trouble.
To hear some talk, it was already all over bar the shouting!
However, the second the flag dropped on the first race it became apparent that anything could happen.
When the gate dropped on the first Main race, Rockstar Energy Racing's Davi Millsaps shocked the fans as he shot off the line to grab the holeshot, while the champ struggled round the first turn in 12th, before crashing again later in the race.
Millsaps went on to take control at the front and eventually claim the opening victory, as Villopoto looked sketchy, crossing the line in 16th.
The first shake-up in the 2013 AMA Supercross season had taken place.
At the following round, insidethe Chase Field stadium, Villopoto showed signs of his old style, grabbing a confidence boosting second place.
Taking the win that weekend was Honda's Justin Barcia – an impressive ride, considering it was only the second race of his Rookie 450 season.
Taking third and keeping hold of the series lead was that man Davi Millsaps.
It was round six before the Suzuki rider could lay claim to another win but Millsaps proved that consistency was the key, as he remained doggedly inside the top five going 3-4-2-2-1-2-3, to keep hold of the red plate right up to round ten.
In the meantime there were three other riders getting a grasp on the top step of the podium, with Villopoto, Ryan Dungey and James Stewart all getting a piece of the chequered flag.
As the championship headed to St Louis on March 2, things started to change.
Villopoto appeared to conquer his run of bad starts and once the flame-haired Kawasaki star got ahead of the field there was no stopping him, as he cruised to the win.
Millsaps, though, suffered his worst finish of the year down in 10th place, turning the tables in the championship and handing over the series lead to Villopoto.
The weeks that followed saw Villopoto's confidence grow and with it the fans saw a significant increase in both his speed and smoothness over the technical track sections.
As the series came to rest for the Easter weekend, Villopoto had managed to extend his lead over Millsaps to 12 points after four straight wins, the last one before the welcome break being the series' solitary trip to Canada, in Toronto.
It has been shown that one bad result can turn everything upside-down, and with just five events left everything is still to play for, in what has been one of the most competitive championships to date.
TMX will keep you up to date with reports and pics after each event.
FOR FULL REVIEW AND PICTURES SEE TMX APRIL 5
