Villopoto Wins, Dungey Crashes

Jean Turner | January 31, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, JAN. 30 – Like the Lites class, the 450 main event in San Francisco also saw a fresh face atop the podium. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto was looking rock solid all day at AT&T Park, and was finally able to put it all together for a race win at round four of the AMA Supercross/FIM World Championship.

Villopoto did get a little help, however, from Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey who handed him the lead after a spectacular get-off. Dungey was off with the holeshot and led the first half of the main event before wrecking in a rhythm section – the same one that also gave him trouble in practice and his heat race. Dungey accidentally planted a foot on the face of a triple which resulted in him sailing through the air behind his RM-Z450 in a superman. He landed in a heap on the backside of the landing, but was miraculously able to re-mount and finish the race.

Thanks to some brake checking going on between L&M Racing San Manuel Yamaha’s Josh Hill and Villopoto as they battled for second, Dungey was able to put nearly ten seconds on the pair and consequently get moving again while still in the lead. But two turns later, both Hill and Villopoto were around him. Dungey fought to hang on to third, but wasn’t able to fend off Red Bull Honda’s Davi Millsaps who took the final podium position.

Dungey salvaged a fourth-place finish, and was only slightly banged up from his crash. Millsaps’ Honda teammate Andrew Short rounded out the top-five. Justin Brayton, Ivan Tedesco and factory Kawasaki replacement rider Nick Wey followed with Tommy Hahn and Michael Byrne rounding out the top-ten.

GEICO Powersports Honda’s Kevin Windham had the hot lap in practice, but in the main event was only able to come up with an 11th place finish.

Main Event Results:

1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)

2. Josh Hill (Yam)

3. Davi Millsaps (Hon)

4. Ryan Dungey (Suz)

5. Andrew Short (Hon)

6. Justin Brayton (Yam)

7. Ivan Tedesco (Yam)

8. Nick Wey (Kaw)

9. Tommy Hahn (Suz)

10. Michael Byrne (Yam)