Kawasaki's Villopoto Takes Toronto Victory
By TMX Archives on 17th Mar 10
Villopoto rode to his fifth win of the season leading 19 laps on his way to the top step of the podium. In the lites class, Pourcel finished third and Wilson finished fourth in the main event.
Since finishing 19th in Atlanta, Villopotohas been on a mission to erase his points deficit winning the last tworaces in dominating fashion. On Saturday night in Toronto, Villopototook the lead on the second lap and never looked back on his way to hisfifth win of the season.
"It definitely feels good to wintonight,” said Villopoto. "The track was tough. We had lap times ofalmost a minute, which is big for a typical supercross track. I leftAtlanta down 23 points in the standings and now it's down to 17. I'mjust going to keep doing what I'm doing and give myself a chance to winthe championship.”
Despite a hard crash in his heat race,Pourcel recovered to finish third in the main event. The defending EastCoast lites champion currently leads the standings in his title defenseas the AMA Supercross Lites Eastern Region season passes its midpoint.
"I'vegot bruises everywhere from the crash,” said Pourcel. "But I'm notreally hurt. The crash was my fault. I hit the kicker on the tabletopand went over the bars. I didn't get a good gate pick for the main andgot an okay start. The track was good tonight and I rode a smart raceand still have the points lead.”
Wilson's supercross litesdebut in Canada couldn't have started any better as he rocketed to theholeshot in his heat race and went on to get his first heat race win ofthe season. In the main event he got a good start and rode near thefront for all 15 laps coming home fourth.
"Getting a heat racewin is awesome,” said Wilson. "I knew I had the speed and the heat racejust went my way. In the main event I didn't get the start I wanted andI rode as best as I could. I'm a little disappointed finishing fourthat my home race, but only because I know I have the speed to be on thepodium every week.”
Villopoto had his hands full all night onthe difficult track in Toronto as he lapped more than half the field onhis way to the win.
"The lappers were tough out theretonight,” said Villopoto. "They built the rhythm sections with a coupleof different options which helped, but because the track was so tough,lapped riders were going to be a part of the race.”
Wilson,who is Canadian, had a busy week in Toronto as he flew in early to helppromote the race. The media attention paid off, as the crowd wasclearly partial to Wilson as he received more cheers than any otherrider.
"Hearing all the fans cheering for me was amazing,” saidWilson. "I wasn't nervous racing in Canada, it was a lot of fun. I hada busy week up there doing a lot of interviews and making appearances.”
The Rogers Centre in Toronto has the largest stadium floor inthe series, which gives the Dirt Wurx crew an opportunity to puttogether a great layout. They also brought new dirt to the stadium,which made for some good racing.
"With the huge floor inToronto, they built a good track,” said Villopoto. "This was my firstrace up here and from I've seen of the dirt on TV, tonight was a lotbetter than the past. It got hard packed and slippery out there with alot of rocks. I think that is typical of the dirt up north, it was alot like Seattle.”
Chad Reed wasn't in Toronto this weekendas he continues his recovery from a broken hand. Reed is working hardto get back to racing as soon as he can and may return this week inDallas.