After moving to the 450 class during the mid-point of last year’s outdoor series, Yamaha’s Josh Hill has made a meteoric rise through the Supercross-class ranks, and tonight he claimed his first-ever Monster Energy AMA Supercross win in front of 40,982 fans at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minnesota’s own Ryan Dungey, who was making just his third start in the 450 class, grabbed the holeshot to start the 450 main, and led the first three laps on his Makita Rockstar Suzuki before Hill moved into the lead with an aggressive block-pass.
Dungey maintained second until Team San Manuel Yamaha’s Chad Reed took the position on lap seven. Two laps later, however, Reed crashed in the whoops and killed his engine, dropping him to 10th.
Meanwhile, Hill rode a solid race to claim the win with a five second margin over Dungey, while Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Kevin Windham rounded out the podium in third.
“Getting second was amazing a few races ago,” said Hill. “I don’t know how to put it into words – this win. The season has had its ups and downs, but this is huge for me. Yamaha put faith in me, and I am grateful for that.”
Dungey was equally happy with the runner-up slot.
“The crowd was behind me 100%, and I could hear them on every lap. This is only my third race in this class, so I very happy,” said Dungey.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto made up for some of the bad luck that he has had over the past few races by making a last lap pass on Torco Racing Fuels Honda’s Josh Grant to win an exciting Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites class final.
Grant grabbed the holeshot to take the early lead in the race and did a great job of keeping Villopoto at bay, that is until the final lap when Villopoto snuck underneath him with just a few corners to go.
Grant tried to retaliate with a last corner pass to retake the lead but fell during the attempt and had to settle for second.
KTM’s Martin Davalos rode steady to finish third, while series points leader Trey Canard recovered from a nasty practice crash to salvage fourth on his Torco Racing Fuels Honda.
“I came here ready to race tonight,” said Villopoto. “I am still behind in the points, so I have a lot of catching up to do.”
AMA Supercross Class Results
1. Josh Hill (Yam)
2. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
3. Kevin Windham (Hon)
4. Andrew Short (Hon)
5. Thomas Hahn (Kaw)
6. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
7. Chad Reed (Yam)
8. David Vuillemin (Suz)
9. Travis Preston (Kaw)
10. Nathan Ramsey (Yam)
Lites Class Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Josh Grant (Hon)
3. Martin Davalos (KTM)
4. Trey Canard (Hon)
5. Ryan Sipes (KTM)
6. Tyler Bowers (Yam)
7. Ryan Morais (Yam)
8. Kyle Partridge (Hon)
9. Nico Izzi (Suz)
10. Billy Payne (Hon)
