Photo: Supercross.com
The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, headed to the normally sunny skies of Daytona Beach, Florida for round number ten. Although Florida is normally called the “Sunshine State,” on Saturday, the sun was nowhere to be found. The sandy, motocross-style supercross track designed by Ricky Carmichael within the infield of the Daytona International Speedway was peppered with rain showers all day long, and Saturday night came down to survival of the fittest. No matter the conditions, though, the show must go on. In this case, the show was shortened due to the conditions. The Eastern Regional Supercross Lites Main Event was shortened to twelve laps while the Supercross Class Main Event was cut to sixteen.
In the Supercross Class, it was all about the Joe Gibbs Racing/Yamaha team in the Main Event. Off the start, it was JGR’s Davi Millsaps with the holeshot and his teammate James Stewart at his rear wheel. For the first two laps, James was all over Davi, and the two looked like anything but teammates as Davi did all he could to keep the two-time Supercross champ behind him. On lap three, though, James made the pass and took off. By the midway point, James had built himself a comfortable, fifteen-second lead and easily controlled the race from the front to win his second Main Event of 2012 and his second career Daytona Supercross win.
While James was up front riding his own race, Millsaps was feeling the pressure from the veteran GEICO Powersports/Honda pilot Kevin Windham. After qualifying second in timed qualifying and absolutely dominating his heat race in the mud, K’dub was overflowing with confidence, but in the end, Millsaps’ roost got the better of him. While doing all he could to make the pass on Millsaps for second, Windham was eating pounds of mud and, after the race, said that he was “getting blasted” by the roost. In the end, Millsaps earned his best finish of 2012 with a second, matching his career best Daytona SX finish. Windham hung on for his first podium of 2012 with a third.
By now, you are probably wondering where the defending champ and 2012 Monster Energy Supercross points leader was. Well, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto had a rough Main Event but, all things considered, managed to salvage decent points. RV1 got a little impatient in the second corner of the Main Event and found himself remounting in dead last. In true Championship form, though, the #1 rallied back and, with a myriad of late race passes, finished with a fifth on the night. With sixteen points scored, he retained a twenty-nine point lead over the absent Ryan Dungey–who was out with a broken collarbone–and a fourty-four point lead over James Stewart.
Finishing one spot ahead of the 2011 Supercross Champ with his career best finish in the Supercross Class was Red Bull/KTM’s Marvin Musquin on the KTM 350. With the absence of Ryan Dungey, the Factory KTM team looked to Marvin to fly the orange flag, and Marvin definitely delivered. The Frenchman rounded turn one in fourth and held strong there wire-to-wire. The former two-time MX2 Motocross World Champion’s style seems to be a perfect fit on the 350, and we would not be surprised to see him on the box before he has to get back on the Lites bike in Seattle.
Supercross Class – Daytona SX – Main Event
1 7 James Stewart 2 18 David Millsaps 3 14 Kevin Windham 4 38 Marvin Musquin 5 1 Ryan Villopoto 6 800 Mike Alessi 7 21 Jake Weimer 8 25 Broc Tickle 9 87 Matthew Goerke 10 24 Brett Metcalfe
Supercross Class – After 10 Rounds – 2012 Championship Points
Full Championship Points Standings>>>
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA 221 2 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA 192 3 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL, USA 177 4 14 Kevin Windham Centreville, MS, USA 143 5 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA 134
With the incredibly bad conditions, the start was crucial, and in the Lites Eastern Regional Main Event, GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Justin Barcia would use his great start to barely hang on to his fourth-straight win of the year. While Barcia would once again come out with the W, this one–unlike his first three wins of 2012–was hard earned. Bam Bam was put to the test by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett on a few occasions. Blake reminded everyone how fast and fit he is by making up an eleven-second deficit in just four laps after a tip over had set him back. In the end, though, it was too little, too late.
Finishing behind Barcia and Baggett, and scoring a solid podium finish, was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham. Durham rode amazing in the Main Event, and after a mediocre start, the Pennsylvania native surged forward late in the race to pass MotoConcepts’ Jake Canada who finished sixth for the second straight week, Blake Wharton who held on to finish fifth, and Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen who finished fourth. This was, in our opinion, Durham’s most impressive ride of 2012. He definitely displayed his fitness and speed en route to his second podium of 2012. The third place finish moved Darryn up to second place in the points.
Lites East – Daytona SX – Main Event
1 1 Justin Barcia 2 12 Blake Baggett 3 35 Darryn Durham 4 70 Ken Roczen 5 956 Blake Wharton 6 57 Jake Canada 7 19 Kyle Cunningham 8 37 Malcolm Stewart 9 160 Cole Thompson 10 78 Tommy Weeck
Lites East Region – After 4 Rounds – 2012 Championship Points
Full Championship Points Standings>>>
1 1 Justin Barcia Ochlocknee, GA, USA 100 2 35 Darryn Durham Butler, PA, USA 76 3 70 Ken Roczen Murrieta, USA 75 4 956 Blake Wharton Beaumont, TX, USA 72 5 12 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA, USA 62