The 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, went to Indianapolis, Indiana for round number eleven of the Supercross Class Championship and round number five of the Eastern Regional Lites series. The night was packed with surprises in both classes, and in the end, it was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto winning his sixth Main Event of the 2012 season and Rockstar Suzuki’s Blake Wharton winning his first of 2012. Both Main Events were great races, but it was the Lites Main Event that had everyone talking. After a red flag came out for Star/Valli/Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham‘s crash on lap five, the AMA dug deep into the rule book and pulled out—for the first time in SX history—a staggered start rule. Because of that, the lap time graphs are a little different this week and we did not compare the 250s and 450s. Check out the graphs below to see how it all played out.
On the left of each graph, you will notice the lap times and the numbers on the bottom signifying each lap. Below that, we have the top five riders in the order they finished and each lap time from the Main Event after their name. Also, note that each rider’s fastest lap is shaded in blue.
Click on graphs to enlarge and view as slideshow.
In the Supercross Class, the slippery conditions made charging on the big 450s all about throttle control and consistency. With all of Ryan Villopoto’s Championship competition out of the Indianapolis Main Event, the defending champ—after a bad start—was able to use patience and consistency to slowly make his way to the front. Ryan did have the fastest lap of the night, but as you can see, it was just a tick faster than Muscle Milk/Honda’s Justin Brayton—who got second—and Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe—who got fourth.
The Lites East Class graph was not an easy one to put together. With the red flag and restart, the fast laps are a bit misleading, but overall, the chart does tell the story. While reading the graph, remember that lap four was the last lap before the restart, and on the restart, riders did not do a complete lap. Therefore, the sub-fifty second laps highlighted are not the riders’ real fast laps. The real fast laps are shaded in blue, and the fastest lap was turned in by Justin Barcia with a 52.465.
