You might say that Ryan Villopoto brought his “A” game to Angel Stadium of Anaheim for round six of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider dominated the 20-lap main event with an impressive wire-to-wire win in front of 34,227 fans.
Villopoto shot out of the gate and powered into the lead, nabbing the holeshot over last week’s winner Davi Millsaps, Josh Hill, Kevin Windham and series points leader going into the race Ryan Dungey.
Villopoto led the five-rider freight train around the technical track which stayed quite close for over half the race. But as the race went on, Villopoto just seemed to get stronger and stronger, and he began opening up a small lead.
Hill, meanwhile, displaced Millsaps for second on the first lap and stayed there the whole race. Hill, on the San Manuel Yamaha, had Villopoto in his sights for a while but couldn’t quite hang with the flying Kawasaki rider as the race went on.
Windham, on the GEICO Powersports Honda, put a hard (but clean) pass on Honda Red Bull’s Millsaps for third and kept the pressure on Hill for the remainder of the race, but he never got close enough to attempt a pass, making it Villopoto, Hill and Windham on the A3 podium.
For Villopoto, it was his second win of the series.
Fourth place went to Dungey, on the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki. Dungey tailed the lead pack for quite some time before he started to make his move. By lap eight, he had gotten around Millsaps for fourth and started to close in on Windham, who was right behind Hill. Dungey began to get aggressive on Windham when, on the 12th lap, he grabbed a little too much throttle exiting a turn and lost the back end. He barely saved it but not before executing a complete 360. Not only did he lose time to Windham, but he also lost a position to Millsaps. Dungey, however, got Millsaps back a few laps later and ultimately finished the race in fourth.
Fifth went to Millsaps, followed by Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR Racing’s Justin Brayton, Motoconcepts/Yamaha’s Kyle Chisholm, JGR’s Michael Byrne, Motoconcepts/Yamaha’s Dan Reardon and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Nick Wey.Dungey and Hill are now tied for the series points lead with 123 points, and Villopoto is just three points back with 120. The next closest rider is Millsaps with 98 points.The series now leaves the west coast and heads for Indianapolis for next weekend’s race.
J-Law Racing’s Jason Lawrence returned to action at Anaheim III but had a tough night. He stalled his bike in his heat race and finished 16th which put him in the Last Chance Qualifier. There, Lawrence saw any chance he had of qualifying for the main fly out the window when he and a couple of other riders went down in the first turn. He finished the race but well out of a qualifying position.
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Anaheim, California
Results: February 13, 2010 (Round 6 of 17)
HEAT 1 (8 laps, 1-9 qualify): 1. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 2. Kevin Windham (Hon); 3. Davi Millsaps (Hon); 4. Matt Boni (Hon); 5. Grant Langston (Yam); 6. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 7. Jarred Jet Browne (Kaw); 8. Chris Blose (Hon); 9. Kyle Chrisholm (Yam); 10. Jesse Casillas (Kaw); 11. Nathan Tiearney (Kaw); 12. Teddy Parks (Kaw); 13. Vincent Blair (Kaw); 14. Michael Sleeter (KTM); 15. Drew Yenerich (Yam); 16. Travis Bannister (Kaw); 17. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 18. Fabien Izoird (Kaw); 19. Robert Fitch (Kaw); 20. Spencer Dally (Suz).
Race Time: 8 min., 02.233 sec.
Margin of Victory: 3.987 sec.
HEAT 2 (8 laps, 1-9 qualify): 1. Josh Hill (Yam); 2. Justin Brayton (Yam); 3. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw); 4. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 5. Michael Byrne (Yam); 6. Nick Wey (Kaw); 7. Dan Reardon (Yam); 8. Cyrille Coulon (Kaw); 9. Weston Peick (Yam); 10. Kyle Partridge (Kaw); 11. Cole Siebler (Hon); 12. Jeff Loop (Kaw); 13. Aden Dejager (Kaw); 14. Jason Thomas (Suz); 15. Kyle Calderini (Hon); 16. Jason Lawrence (Yam); 17. Jake Anstett (Yam); 18. Billy Payne (Hon); 19. Casey Hinson (Hon); 20. Nicholas Schmidt (Kaw).
Race Time: 8 min., 10.695 sec.
Margin of Victory: 1.033 sec.
LCQ (6 laps, 1-2 qualify): 1. Fabien Izoird (Kaw); 2. Jason Thomas (Suz).
Race Time: 6 min., 20.328 sec.
Margin of Victory: N/A.
MAIN EVENT (20 laps): 1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw); 2. Josh Hill (Yam); 3. Kevin Windham (Hon); 4. Ryan Dungey (Suz); 5. Davi Millsaps (Hon); 6. Justin Brayton (Yam); 7. Kyle Chisholm (Yam); 8. Michael Byrne (Yam); 9. Dan Reardon (Yam); 10. Nick Wey (Kaw); 11. Ivan Tedesco (Yam); 12. Chris blose (Hon); 13. Grant Langston (Yam); 14. Jarred Jet Browne (Kaw); 15. Fabien Izoird (Kaw); 16. Cyrille Coulon (Kaw); 17. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 18. Weston Peick (Yam); 19. Jason Thomas (Suz); 20. Matt Boni (Hon).
Race Time: 20 min., 28.284 sec.
Margin of Victory: 4.678 sec.
