Photo: Hoppenworld – KTM Images

 

The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, went to Seattle,Washington for round number fifteen of the Supercross Class Championship and round number seven of the Lites Western Regional Championship. The story of the weekend heading into Seattle was the return of Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey and the possibility of finally having one of the contenders back to challenge the newly-crowned, back-to-back Champion, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Unexpectedly, though, what we ended up with was  a DNF from the Champion, Dungey not being a factor for the podium and two of the most exciting Main Events we have seen this year. The end result was  two riders, who have not seen the podium in 2012, winning the two Main Events.

Early in the Supercross Class Main Event—after a very bad start—RV1 was trying to make some early progress to the front and went down in a 90-degree left-hander. At first, the crash looked like a simple tip-over, but when Ryan came up lame and the replay of his knee tweaking in the wrong direction played on the jumbo tron, a collective sigh could be felt throughout the stadium full of RV’s home town supporters. The Poulsbo, Washington native hobbled off the track and was driven back to the pits by his mechanic. The early word was that he tweaked his knee, but seemed to be okay. Hopefully, that is the case with the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship starting in a few weeks; the last thing Ryan or the series needs is another injury to a top guy.

Ken Roczen was fast all day on the KTM 350. The German scored himself and the KTM 350 their first-ever Supercross Class podiums. Photo: Hoppenworld - KTM Images

For a brief moment, everyone forgot that there was a race going on, but that soon changed. Up front was L & MC/Honda-backed Andrew Short with Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen all over him on the KTM 350. Ken is riding the Supercross Class  in Seattle and Salt Lake, and he went right to work on making it count. Kenny stalked Andrew for the first few laps and made a brief move to the lead, but was quickly passed back by Shorty.

From there, it was all Andrew Short. The eleven-year veteran was closely followed by the teenager for the rest of the Main Event, but Kenny would never get close enough to make another move. The two would finish one, two. For Andrew Short, it would mark the first win of his career while Roczen celebrated his first-ever Supercross Class podium. Roczen also did a lot of celebrating with his good friend Shorty after the checkered flag.

Finishing the Main Event behind the #29 and #70 was the Monster Energy/Kawasaki of Jake Weimer, the Muscle Milk/Honda of Justin Brayton, the JGR/Yamaha of Davi Millsaps and Ryan Dungey finishing sixth in his first race back from injury. Ryan did have a good chance at battling for a podium, but an early race incident with Brayton put him on the ground. Ryan spent the last ten laps trying to catch and pass Millsaps for fifth, but in the end could not get around the #18.

After years of hard work and numerous podiums, the #29 finally climbed to the top step of the box in Seattle. Congrats to Andrew Short! Photo: Supercross.com

450 Main Event – Seattle SX

 1 29 Andrew Short Smithville, TX, USA Honda CRF450
 2 70 Ken Roczen Murrieta, USA KTM 350 SX-F
 3 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA Kawasaki KX450F
 4 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA Honda CRF450
 5 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA Yamaha YZ450F
 6 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA KTM 450 SX-F
 7 800 Mike Alessi Hilliard, FL, USA Suzuki RM-Z450
 8 25 Broc Tickle Holly, MI, USA Kawasaki KX450F
 9 54 Weston Peick Wildomar, CA, USA Yamaha YZ450F
 10 27 Nicholas Wey DeWitt, MI, USA Kawasaki KX450F

Supercross Class – After 15 Rounds – 2012 Championship Points

1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA 323 - Clinched 2012 Championship
2 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA 222
3 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA 219
4 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA 207
5 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA 191
Seattle SX - Lites West podium - Ryan Sipes (center) Marvin Musquin (right) Eli Tomac (left) Photo Hoppenworld - KTM Images

The Supercross Class and the Lites East Championships may be decided already, but the Lites West Championship is shaping up to be a fierce battle. Coming into Seattle, GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Eli Tomac and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson were only separated by two points. With only three rounds to go, everyone knew we’d see a battle between the two, but in Seattle, it progressed into a full-blown cage match with Star/Valli/Yamaha’s Ryan Sipes taking advantage of the fight.

In the Main Event, it was Ryan Sipes with the holeshot and Eli Tomac and Dean Wilson in tow. On lap two, Wilson let Eli know right away that he came to play, putting a very aggressive pass on the #17. From that moment, it was on. Wilson held on to second position until lap five when he and Tomac once again got into another aggressive exchange which ended in Tomac being slammed off the track. Wilson again secured second spot, but anyone watching knew that Tomac was waiting for the proper time to attack. That time came on lap seven. Right after the finish line jump, Tomac sliced underneath Deano and brought it in super hot. The two came together hard, with Deano getting the worst of it. Tomac took off after Sipes, and Deano—looking a bit hurt—remounted in seventh, which is where he finished.

Deano fought hard in Seattle, but unfortunately for him Eli Tomac delivered the last punch. Photo: Supercross.com

Tomac tried to go after Sipes, but had ended up with a severely bent shift lever in his collision with Wilson. Instead of hunting down Sipes, he was hunted down by a charging Frenchman. Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin was the fastest rider all day long, and in the end, that speed brought him up from an eleventh place start to finish second. Tomac was able to hold onto the last podium spot after getting passed by Musquin and, more importantly, take the lead in the Championship by four points.

Finishing fourth in the Main Event and keeping himself alive in the Championship was Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Cole Seely. With two rounds to go in the West, Cole is still in the hunt at eleven behind Dean and fifteen behind Tomac.

Ryan Sipes celebrates what he called "the sweetest win of his career." Photo: Supercross.com

While the story of the night was the battle between Wilson and Tomac, it was the Kentucky kid, Ryan Sipes, who stole the show. Ryan led wire-to-wire to secure the third Lites SX win of his career. After the race, Ryan told us that he was just focused on his race and had no idea who was in second. Because of what he has been through of late, Ryan said it was the sweetest win of his career.

Lites West Main Event – Seattle SX

1 53 Ryan Sipes Ekron, KY, USA Yamaha YZ250F 
2 38 Marvin Musquin Murrieta, CA, USA KTM 250 SX-F 
3 17 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO, USA Honda CRF250 
4 34 Cole Seely Murrieta, CA, USA Honda CRF250 
5 58 Wil Hahn Decatur, TX, USA Honda CRF250 
6 44 Jason Anderson Edgewood, NM, USA Suzuki RM-Z250 
7 15 Dean Wilson Menifee, CA, USA Kawasaki KX250F
8 232 Billy Laninovich Riverside, CA, USA Honda CRF250
9 51 Travis Baker Temecula, CA, USA Honda CRF250 +29.152 
10 59 Vince Friese Cape Girardeau, MO, USA

Lites West Class – After 7 Rounds – 2012 Championship Points

1 17 Eli Tomac Cortez, CO, USA 134
2 15 Dean Wilson Menifee, CA, USA 130
3 34 Cole Seely Murrieta, CA, USA 119
4 38 Marvin Musquin Murrieta, CA, USA 111
5 53 Ryan Sipes Ekron, KY, USA 78
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.