Photo: Matt Rice
The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, headed to Indianapolis, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Stadium for round number eleven. After the insanity caused by Mother Nature last weekend in Daytona Beach, many thought the controlled climate of Lucas Oil Stadium would bring some normalcy back to the series, but think again. Saturday night was one of the most abnormal nights of the year with the Lites Eastern Regional Main Event getting a red flag and the first-ever staggered restart in the history of the sport and the Supercross Class adding even more injuries to the already long list of riders that are out.
In the Supercross Class, the first injury came to JGR/Yamaha’s James Stewart in the first Supercross Class heat race of the night. The #7 would get off line entering the first rhythm section and go down, taking a few other riders with him including GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Kevin Windham. James looked to be alright, but reports from the track indicated that he hit his head, and the Stewart camp thought he should sit the rest of the night out. This will no doubt end any outside chance, barring a Ryan Villopoto injury, of James winning the 2012 Supercross Championship.
With JS7 back at the rig watching the Main Event from the semi, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was now a huge favorite for the Main Event win, and win is what he did. After a mediocre start, RV1 methodically and patiently worked his way forward. On lap sixteen, he made the pass on Muscle Milk/Honda’s Justin Brayton for the lead. Brayton rode an incredible race, working his way around the early leader–MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi–on lap five and then leading for ten laps, but there was no stopping the man on the #1 machine. Ryan Villopoto was on another level, and although he took his time getting to the lead, there was never really any doubt that he would get there. Brayton would hang on for a career-best second place finish and his second podium of 2012.
Finishing behind the #10 with his second straight podium was JGR/Yamaha’s Davi Millsaps. The lone Joe Gibbs racing Yamaha has come alive of late, and after a mid-pack start, the Georgian fought for every position for the entire Main Event. Davi made his last pass on lap sixteen around Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe–who also rode an inspired Main Event–to grab the final spot on the box. Metcalfe, after fighting hard for every inch of track with Brayton, Villopoto, Alessi and Millsaps, hung on for a very solid fourth with Muscle Milk/Honda’s Cole Seely grabbing his first-ever Supercross Class top five with a fifth.
Other notable happenings in the Supercross Class were big crashes from Kevin Windham, JWR/Kawasaki’s Kyle Chisholm and privateer Honda rider Gavin Faith. Gavin went down hard into the over and under bridge, Chisholm cased a jump and went down hard, and Windham went down when he and Mike Alessi came together. At this point, there is no real update on any of the three, but do not be surprised if one or more is not on the line next week in Toronto. This sport has always been brutal, but 2012 has been an absolute meat grinder.
Supercross Class results – Indianapolis SX
1 1 Ryan Villopoto 2 10 Justin Brayton 3 18 David Millsaps 4 24 Brett Metcalfe 5 34 Cole Seely 6 800 Mike Alessi 7 38 Marvin Musquin 8 25 Broc Tickle 9 54 Weston Peick 10 50 Nico Izz
Supercross Class – Updated points
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Seattle, WA, USA 246 2 5 Ryan Dungey Belle Plaine, MN, USA 192 3 7 James Stewart Haines City, FL, USA 177 4 18 David Millsaps Murrieta, CA, USA 151 5 14 Kevin Windham Centreville, MS, USA 146 6 10 Justin Brayton Murrieta, CA, USA 143 7 24 Brett Metcalfe Lake Elsinore, CA, USA 142 8 21 Jake Weimer Wildomar, ID, USA 134 9 22 Chad Reed Dade City, FL, USA 128 10 800 Mike Alessi Hilliard, FL, USA 128
In the Lites East Main Event, most of the anticipation was surrounding whether or not GEICO Powersports/Honda’s Justin Barcia could continue his 2012 unbeaten streak in Indy, but it was Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen that looked like the man to beat early on. The German was fast all day, and in the Main Event, he grabbed the lead and looked like he was on a mission. That was until Star/Valli/Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham went down hard in the whoops and brought out the red flag. When the red flag flew, it was Ken Roczen leading followed by Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett, Blake Wharton and Darryn Durham with Justin Barcia buried back around mid-pack after a bad start and a tip over. Usually riders would just roll back to the line and get ready to restart the gate, but for the first time in the history of the sport, a staggered start rule was put in effect. After a lot of confusion, all the riders were lined up single file in the position they ended lap four in and restarted.
On the restart, Roczen hung on to his lead and was quickly gaping the field until a minor mistake ended his Main Event. The #70 looked like he lost his front wheel and ended up falling, launching his bike over the next jump without him on it. Inheriting the lead and running away with his first Main Event win in three years was Blake Wharton. The Rockstar/Suzuki rider has been through a lot of up and downs over the last three years, but he proved on Saturday night that there is no quit in him.
Finishing second, after surviving some serious late race pressure from Justin Barcia, was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham. Darryn made a couple of pushes to get up to Wharton, but in the end, Wharton got away, and Durham’s focus switched to keeping Barcia at bay. Despite an up and down Main Event and the ending of his win streak, Barcia seemed pumped to get out of Indy with a podium. His win streak may be over, but he is now riding a sixteen-race Lites East podium streak that dates back to 2010, and it is podiums that win the Championships.
Rounding out the top five in the Main Event was Blake Baggett along with MotoConcepts’ Jake Canada with his first-ever top five. The two finished fourth and fifth, but how they got there was completely different. Baggett started the Main Event up front in the lead and faded to fourth while Canada did the exact opposite. The #57 started the restart in eleventh and carved his way into the top five. We suspect Canada’s new goal is a podium. Do not be surprised to see him there sooner than later.
Lites East – Indianapolis SX results
1 956 Blake Wharton 2 35 Darryn Durham 3 1 Justin Barcia 4 12 Blake Baggett 5 57 Jake Canada 6 49 Justin Bogle 7 60 Matthew Lemoine 8 74 Tyler Bowers 9 46 Les Smith 10 714 Shawn Rife
Lites East – Updated points
1 1 Justin Barcia Ochlocknee, GA, USA 120 2 35 Darryn Durham Butler, PA, USA 98 3 956 Blake Wharton Pilot Point, TX, USA 97 4 12 Blake Baggett Grand Terrace, CA, USA 80 5 70 Ken Roczen Murrieta, USA 80 6 57 Jake Canada Sun City, CA, USA 72 7 49 Justin Bogle Cushing, OK, USA 61 8 19 Kyle Cunningham Aledo, TX, USA 43 9 37 Malcolm Stewart Haines City, FL, USA 42 10 927 P Larsen Murrieta, CA, USA 38
