Quality counts
By TMX Archives on 17th Feb 12
A colossal crowd of nearly 60,00 fans jammed into the Qualcomm stadium in San Diego for the latest instalment of Monster Energy AMA supercross mayhem, and leading the way after a frantic 20-lap Main event was Monster Energy Kawasakis Ryan Villopoto, who claimed his third consecutive victory to establish his dominance at the top of the series standings. Meanwhile in the Western Lites class, Dean Wilson made it a Monster Energy Kawasaki double as he ended Eli Tomacs winning streak to take the chequered flag.
Suzuki's Brett Metcalfe was this week's winner of the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot, with Villopoto and Jake Weimar close behind. Then the number 1 Kawasaki pilot made his move on the second lap to take the lead, whilst behind him the big guns of Chad Reed, James Stewart and Ryan Dungey battled it out.
By lap three Chad was on the move and made a pass stick to take Weimar for second, then soon after Metcalfe also came through to run in third. By mid race Stewart was in fourth and on the tail of Metcalfe, however a mistake on the whoops cost the Yamaha rider, and Dungey was there to make the most of it.
Stewart got a part of his bike caught in his gear and was unable to free himself from underneath his bike until a track official was able to cut his pants and free him!
Meanwhile Villopoto and Reed were exchanging blows at the front and keeping the huge crowd on the edge of their seats. For a short while Reed did hold the lead, but was unable to hold off the charges from a relentless Villopoto and was forced to settle for second ahead Dungey.
Yoshimura Suzuki's Brett Metcalfe put in his best ride of the series to date, finishing just off the podium in fourth place. Stewart did his best to rejoin the race and ride his way into the points, but at the flag was only able to take 15th
"The whoops were treacherous tonight,” said Villopoto. "I knew it was important to be consistent every lap. Battling Reed on the last few laps was exciting and I was able to make a good pass. I'm happy to keep the red plate on my bike and am excited for the Dallas race next week.”
In the Western Lites final Honda's Vince Friese claimed the holeshot with Dean Wilson right on his back wheel, then once out of the first turn made a pass. Wilson was never headed as he ran away in the 15 lap event. Previous week's winner, Eli Tomac started mid pack and began a charge through the field, however on lap seven made a mistake and crashed. Taking second on the night was Cole Seely with KTM's Matt Moss completing the podium,
"I'm absolutely ecstatic with the win,” said Wilson. "I knew I needed to run consistent laps out there and get through the whoops as fast as I could all night long. Eli Tomac is a tough competitor, so it's a bit of a surprise to be in the points lead, but I'm going to work my butt off during the break to try and stay there.”
AMA & WORLD SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 6 – Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California, USA
SUPERCROSS CLASS: 1 Ryan Villopoto (Kaw), 2 Chad Reed (AUS - Hon), 3 Ryan Dungey (KTM), 4 Brett Metcalfe (AUS - Suz), 5 Josh Hansen (Kaw), 6 Justin Brayton (Hon), 7 Davi Millsaps (Yam), 8 Kyle Chisholm (Kaw), 9 Mike Alessi (Suz), 10 Nick Wey (Kaw), 11 Jason Thomas (Suz), 12 Cody Mackie (AUS - Hon), 13 Weston Peick (Yam), 14 Robert Kiniry (Suz), 15 James Stewart (Yam), 16 Kevin Windham (Hon), 17 Matt Goerke (Suz), 18 Broc Tickle (Kaw), 19 Kyle Partridge (Kaw), 20 Jake Weimer (Kaw).
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 17) rounds: 1 Villopoto 133 points, 2 Reed 127, 3 Dungey 123, 4 Stewart 101, 5 Windham 78, 6 Metcalfe 75, 7 Millsaps 70, 8 Brayton 68, 9 Hansen 64, 10 Mike Alessi 63, 11 Weimer 61, 12 Short 59, 13 Chisholm 56, 14 Tickle 44, 15 Wey 35, 16 Peick 24, 17 Tedesco 21, 18 Partridge 17, 19 Canard 16, 20 Mackie 14,...
SUPERCROSS LITES (West): 1 Dean WILSON (GB - Kaw), 2 Cole Seely (Hon), 3 Matt Moss (AUS - KTM), 4 Gareth Swanepoel (ZA - Yam), 5 Nico Izzi (Yam), 6 Gavin Faith (Hon), 7 Billy Laninovich (Hon), 8 Travis Baker (Hon), 9 Vince Friese (Hon), 10 Nick Paluzzi (Kaw), 11 Kyle Beaton (Kaw), 12 Bruce Rutherford (Hon), 13 Max ANSTIE (GB - Hon), 14 Killy Rusk (Hon), 15 Martin Davalos (Suz), 16 Marvin Musquin (F - KTM), 17 Jason Anderson (Suz), 18 Jean Carlo Ramos (PR - Hon), 19 Scott Champion (Hon), 20 Eli Tomac (Hon).
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 WILSON 116 points, 2 Tomac 114, 3 Seely 101, 4 Musquin 89, 5 Izzi 78, 6 Moss 73, 7 Osborne 67, 8 Travis Baker 63, 9 Rattray 60, 10 Anderson 58, 11 Laninovich 57, 12 Sipes 53, 13 ANSTIE 53, 14 Friese 50, 15 Leib 44, 16 Davalos 44, 17 Swanepoel 34, 18 Faith 27, 19 Bruce Rutherford 24, 20 Maier 21,... 30 CHATFIELD 2,...
NEXT ROUND: February 18 – Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, USA.
