Round nine of the twelve round Lucas Oil Motocross Championship brought the 450 AMA Motocross Championship to New Berlin, New York for the Rockstar Energy Unadilla National. Since 1972, world-class motocross has been happening at Unadilla, and every year, the facility and racing gets better. The track layout is a throwback to old school motocross, but with huge natural terrain tabletops and the 2011 equipment, the air time on the circuit looks anything but old school.
Heading into this year’s 450 Unadilla National, a momentum swing at the top of the standings had begun to take shape. Early on in 2011, it was all about the Two-Two Motorsports Honda of Chad Reed, but since the second moto at Millville and Reed’s spectacular crash, that momentum has swung over to the two Ryans. Since Millville, Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki rider Ryan Dungey has won the last two overalls, and the Monster/Kawasaki of Ryan Villopoto has taken over the points-lead, so it was a must that Reed came to Unadilla ready to fight back. Could Reed do what he has done all season long and begin to wrestle momentum back into his court?
450 – Moto 1
When the gate fell for moto number one, there was a strange number leading everyone around turn one. With Trey Canard and Josh Grant sidelined with injuries, Factory Honda decided to call Justin Barcia up to the big leagues, and the kid answered the bell with fury. Justin ripped a massive holeshot on the Factory machine and took off. He was followed early by the Troy Lee Designs Honda of Christian Craig, but Christian had nothing for the hyper nineteen year-old, and on lap three, he began going backwards.
The first man to get around Craig was the red plate holder, Ryan Villopoto. On lap three, Ryan made his way up to second but, by then, was already seven seconds behind the number seventeen. With a huge gap to make up, Villopoto put his head down and clicked off the fastest laps of the day. By lap seven, he was in the lead. Barcia tried to stay close to the four-time AMA Champion, but before he knew it, he was coming under fire from another Championship contender by the name of Ryan Dungey. This time, though, Barcia would put up a real fight, and after a three lap battle, Dungey was able to get the pass made–but not before his Championship rival Villopoto had checked out. Villopoto would go on to the first moto win followed by Dungey and Barcia in second and third.
Some forty-six seconds behind third place in fourth came the former points leader, Chad Reed. After a bad start, Reedy struggled to find his way around Factory KTM’s Mike Alessi and Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer. Weimer and his Kawasaki teammate, Villopoto, were both debuting the new 2012 Kawasaki and looking better than ever on their new steeds. Weimer went on to grab his first top five of the year in fifth just behind Reed.
450 – Moto 2
With Reed and Dungey both surrendering crucial Championship points to Villopoto in moto one, it was imperative that the two answer back in the second moto, but Villopoto–who has struggled in second motos–had other plans. After a Mike Alessi holeshot, Villopoto came from outside the top five around turn one to flying around Alessi for the lead by the end of lap two. Villopoto showed aggression that reminded most of his 250 Championship days as his ripped through the pack, grabbed the lead and checked out for an easy win. Villopoto was on a mission at Unadilla, and there was nobody that was going to stop the Factory Kawasaki pilot.
Behind Villopoto, Justin Barcia was on the move. Justin quickly moved up to second with Ryan Dungey putting the heat on his rear wheel once again. While RV2 was checking out up front, Barcia and Dungey went on to have a race-long battle. Dungey spent the whole of moto two applying never ending pressure to Barcia, but somehow, the young 450 rookie would not crack. That is until, with the white flag out and Dungey cranking up the pressure, Barcia cross jumped in front of Dungey to try and protect the inside. When Dungey came down, he landed on Barcia and sent the Honda down hard. It was purely luck that Dungey was able to keep it on two wheels. From there, Dungey was able to bring it home in second behind Villopoto. Barcia was able to remount quickly enough to hold on to third in moto two.
Like most weeks so far in 2011, the top three were on a different level. The only difference today was that Chad Reed was not one of those top three. In the second moto, the best that Reed could muster was a fifth. An early moto mistake pushed the former Champ back, but with or without that mistake, Reed just didn’t have the pace to contend. Actually, if not for Weimer, Brett Metcalfe and Justin Brayton all going down in front of him, he may have ended up eighth in moto two. Reed came into Unadilla saying he felt great and was 100%, so we don’t think it’s physical, but as we all know, the mental side of this sport can be even more important. Whatever the case, Reed now sits twenty-five points behind with six motos to go after a 4-5 day for fourth overall. Can the Australian turn it around in the next two weeks?
450 Results Unadilla
1 2 Ryan Villopoto Poulsbo, WA, US Kawasaki KX450F 1 1 50 2 1 Ryan Dungey Waconia, MN, US Suzuki RMZ 450 2 2 44 3 17 Justin Barcia Monroe, NY, US Honda CRF450R 3 3 40 4 22 Chad Reed Australia, AU Honda CRF450R 4 5 34 5 800 Mike Alessi Hilliard, FL, US KTM 450 SX-F 7 4 32 6 32 Jacob Weimer Twin Falls, ID, US Kawasaki KX450F 5 6 31 7 10 Justin Brayton Fort Dodge, IA, US Yamaha YZ 450F 8 7 27 8 30 Kyle Regal Howell, MI, US Suzuki RMZ 450 10 9 23 9 108 Jimmy Albertson San Diego, CA, US Yamaha YZ 450F 12 11 19 10 592 Jake Canada Corona, CA, US Yamaha YZ 450F 11 14 17
Updated 450 Points
1 2 Ryan Villopoto 391 2 1 Ryan Dungey 384 3 22 Chad Reed 366 4 24 Brett Metcalfe 262 5 800 Mike Alessi 210
