Photo: Supercross.com
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, headed to the southern tip of the California for round six and rocked the city of San Diego with the race of the year. For nearly the last decade, Qualcomm Stadium has been Two Two Motorsports/Honda’s Chad Reed’s house, but on Saturday night, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto broke down the door and invited himself in. In what was by far the best race of 2012, Reedy and Villopoto went head to head, and in the end, RV would leave with his first win in San Diego and his second straight of 2012.
In the Main Event, it was Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey first into turn one, but sneaking by and stealing the Nuclear Cowboyz holeshot money was Rockstar/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe. Also sneaking around the #5 was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer, who was quickly followed through by Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed. Before the end of lap one, RV had made his way around his teammate Weimer and by the end of lap two, the 2011 Supercross Champion was in the lead with a clear track to work with.
With RV at the point, Reed knew he had to act quickly or deal with watching the #1 disappear like he did last week. Well, Reed did exactly what he needed to do. By the end of lap three, he was going to work on closing the two second gap RV had put between himself and the field. For the next fifteen laps, the two never strayed more than three seconds apart, but with just two laps to go, the two Champions would meet up for an epic, two-lap fight to the flag.
From lap fifteen to eighteen, RV had to deal with lappers, and during that time, Reedy was reeling him in. On lap eighteen, a mistake by RV coming out of a corner was all the invite the Two-Two needed. Reedy used RV’s mistake to pull alongside, square up the next turn and snag the lead with just a lap and a half to go. With such little time to recover, RV quickly went back to work on Reed. In a move identical to one he used last weekend at A2, he scrubbed underneath Reed off the big triple and regained the lead with an aggressive block pass. From then on, RV was able to hold off Reed to win his second Main Event in a row and his third of 2012. Reed would have to settle for a hard fought second and live to fight another day.
Behind Reed in third, it was the 2010 Supercross Champion Ryan Dungey. Early on, Ryan had been back in fourth and slightly off the pace, but another huge mistake by the number seven Joe Gibbs Racing/Yamaha rider gave Dungey the gift of a third podium. James Stewart may have been a little off the pace of RV and Reed, but was in a solid third before going down hard in the whoops and getting tangled with a warning light. This mistake would cost the former two-time Champion a podium, and he would leave San Diego with a fifteenth place finish. James now sits fourth in the Championship and thirty-two points behind.
Grabbing their best finishes of 2012 in fourth and fifth were Brett Metcalfe and Hart and Huntington/Dodge’s Josh Hansen. Both men have been hanging out inside the top ten–with Metty even finishing fifth in L.A.– but both took it to the next level in San Diego. The most impressive of the two rides has to goes to Lil’ Hanny. While Metty started first and finished fourth, Josh came from thirteenth at the end of lap one to finish fifth. For a man that was all but written off, he is showing everyone once again that he is here to stay. Congratulations to Hanny on what we will call a breakthrough ride.
As the series leaves California and heads east to Dallas, it is beginning to look like we still have a possibility for a four man fight for wins, but only two men have really shown both speed and consistency thus far. While Stewart is fast, he definitely does not have the consistency, and while Dungey is consistent, he has not shown that straight-up win speed. So far the two men that have shown it all are Villopoto and Reed. Villopoto has the slight edge so far, but could that change next week? We cannot tell you for sure, but what we can say is we want to be there to find out.
Next stop, Dallas!
Supercross Class – Main Event Results
For full results from San Diego SX click here>>>
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA Kawasaki KX450F 2 22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL, USA Honda 3 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA KTM 450 SX-F 4 24 Brett Metcalfe Lake Elsinore, CA, USA Suzuki RM-Z450 5 100 Joshua Hansen Elbert, CO, USA Kawasaki KX450F 6 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA Honda CRF450 7 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA Yamaha YZ450F 8 11 Kyle Chisholm Valrico, FL, USA Kawasaki KX450F 9 800 Mike Alessi Hilliard, FL, USA Suzuki RM-Z450 10 27 Nicholas Wey DeWitt, MI, USA Kawasaki KX450F
Supercross Class – Championship points
For full Championship ponts click here>>>
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA 133 2 22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL, USA 127 3 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA 123 4 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL, USA 101 5 14 Kevin Windham Centreville, MS, USA 78 6 24 Brett Metcalfe Lake Elsinore, CA, USA 75 7 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA 72 8 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA 70 9 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA 68 10 100 Joshua Hansen Elbert, CO, USA 64
