With half of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship behind us, the two 2011 AMA Motocross Championships look to be coming down to two, three-way wars to Pala. In the 450 class, we have three proven champions trying to add the 2011 450 AMA Motocross Championship to their already hall-of-fame-type careers, and in the 250 class, we have three teammates looking to win their first AMA Motocross Championship. We hate to rule anyone out with twelve motos still left to run, but in both classes, the top three in the points are separated by less than twenty-two points with fourth place more than eighty points behind. With the series entering its second half this weekend at the Spring Creek National in Millville, Minnesota, we thought we’d take a look at the six men vying for the two Championships.
The 250’s
Tyla Rattray is one of the three Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki pilots in the mix for the 2011 250 AMA Motocross Championship. In the first four rounds of the Championship, Rattray used his fitness and consistency to take command in the points, but his struggles at the last two stops have dropped the South African to third in the standings. In the first six rounds, Tyla has two overall wins and five overall podiums, but his speed in head-to-head situations has not been enough against Baggett and Wilson. This former MX2 FIM Motocross World Champion has proven in the past he has the consistency to win a Championship, but with two riders showing more speed, will his consistency be enough? He currently sits sixteen points back as the second half gets underway this weekend.
The man with all of the momentum and the majority of the wins in the first half of the 2011 250 AMA Motocross Championship is Blake Baggett. Of the three Mitch Payton employees in the title hunt, we’d have to say that Baggett is by far the biggest surprise. Coming into the 2011 Outdoor National Championship, there was very little talk about the Californian, but by the time the first round was over, that had all changed. He went out and used his speed and incredible, late-race fitness to win the opener, and in doing so, let everyone know he would be a serious threat all summer. Since then, the number fifty-seven Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider has tallied a total of four overall wins. Two poor performances at Freestone (9th overall) and Budds Creek (7th overall), though, have Blake sitting fourteen points behind Wilson in the standings. Still, with a four-moto win streak and his consistency problems seemingly solved, we expect the man dubbed “The Chupacabra” to continue his winning ways as the series heads into the home stretch.
The man leading the way in the points for the 2011 250 AMA Motocross Championship heading into round seven is Dean Wilson. The Scottish-born California transplant was on everyone’s preseason favorites list, so the fact that he’s leading the Championship at the halfway point comes as no surprise. The surprise is that he’s doing it with no overall wins. Deano, with three moto wins, five second-place overalls and a fourth overall, sits fourteen points ahead of the man with four overall wins and sixteen ahead of the man with two. Besides the one bad moto at High Point–an eigth in moto one after a crash–he has been on the box in every moto run in 2011. We all know that consistency is the number one ingredient in winning Championships, but with Baggett and Rattray right there, he is more than likely going to need some wins before it’s over. Consistency will keep you alive in any championship, but it’s the wins that close the deal.
If somebody asked us to define the word domination right now ,we would simply say “Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki.” Dean Wilson, Blake Baggett, and Tyla Rattray have absolutely shredded the competition in the 2011 Outdoor Nationals. They have won all twelve motos, all six overalls, swept the top two spots of the podium at all six Nationals and swept the entire podium at two of the six. Looking through the history of moto, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything that compares to this kind of team domination. Can anyone step up before the year is over and do something about it?
Top five 250 National Championship points:
1 15 Dean Wilson 258 2 57 Blake Baggett 244 3 28 Tyla Rattray 242 4 19 Eli Tomac 176 5 35 Kyle Cunningham 163
The 450’s
Just like in the 250 class, the 450 class Championship is coming down to three riders as the series heads to Millville, Minnesota and the Spring Creek National for round number seven. With the series heading to Millville, all eyes will be on the man sitting in third place in the standings: local Minnesota MX hero Ryan Dungey. Dungey has been incredibly consistent all season long and, if not for a crazy fuel-related DNF, would be the points leader heading into the final six races. As it is, though, the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki rider sits twenty-two points behind the man displaying the number twenty-two and needs to use the home town vibe on Saturday to begin to close the gap. Ryan has not lost a moto at Spring Creek since 2008 and has not lost an overall since 2007. With the local crowd 100% behind him, the defending 450 AMA Motocross Champion will look to continue that streak and close the gap on points-leader Chad Reed.
The last man to beat Ryan Dungey at the Spring Creek National comes into round six just six points ahead of RD1 and sixteen behind Chad Reed. Ryan Villopoto comes to Minnesota looking to take control of the 2011 Championship with his aggression and speed. Since High Point, RV2 has been the man with the speed, but second moto fitness and mistakes have cost the three-time AMA Motocross Champ in the overalls. At the last stop at Red Bud, one of Ryan’s mistakes nearly put a fork in his 2011 Championship campaign, but the number two dug deep. After a hard crash early in lap one, Ryan peeled himself off the ground, remounted 40 seconds behind the field and charged his way up into the top ten by the end of thirty-plus-two. Championships are won on your bad days, not your good ones, and if RV2 is able to win the 2011 Championship, the first moto at Red Bud will be a defining moment.
The man on top of the points standings in the 450 AMA Motocross Championship is Chad Reed. The Two-Two Motorsports/Honda rider has spent the whole of 2011 showing the motocross world what he’s about. The Australian is 100% moto! When you combine that with his heart and desire, you get what we’ve seen this season, indoor and out. Before Supercross started, few picked Chad to win races and be in the title hunt, and in the end, he fell just a few points shy of winning his third SX Championship. Before Motocross started, the predictions were similar, and the outcome looks like it may become his second 450 AMA Motocross Championship. In the first six rounds, the 2009 450 AMA Motocross Champion has won four overalls, has yet to finish off the box and leads the two favorites by sixteen and twenty-two points. Chad has built that lead with machine-like riding, and with only six rounds left to run, we expect him to continue doing what he’s done to get here. He knows there’s too much time and too small of a gap to try to manage the points.
Top five 250 National Championship points
1 22 Chad Reed 268 2 2 Ryan Villopoto 252 3 1 Ryan Dungey 246 4 24 Brett Metcalfe 178 5 18 David Millsaps 173
