Dungey and Pourcel Set Houston Hot Laps

Jean Turner | April 10, 2010

At first glance, the Houston Supercross track doesn’t look all that technical, but riders soon found out otherwise. Monster whoops and technical rhythms on a fast, sweeping course will present a substantial challenge for riders tonight.

Ryan Dungey, looking to keep a strong grip on the AMA Supercross Championship, topped qualifying in the 450 class. But the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider was barely able to nudge out Kevin Windham for top honors, as K-Dub was only two thousands of a second behind him in second.

Chad Reed finished qualifying in a strong third over Davi Millsaps, followed by Ivan Tedesco in fifth. Justin Brayton and Tommy Hahn came in seventh and sixth, respectively, and were the last of the premier class riders to notch times under the 48-second mark.

Ryan Villopoto was evidently not feeling all that comfortable on the Reliant Stadium course as he was only able to qualify eighth behind Hahn. Villopoto’s top lap time was 48.319 – nearly a second and a half behind the top riders.

In the Lites division, Pourcel once again looked untouchable in practice. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider just might be untouchable since his closest competition, Austin Stroupe, is likely done for the remainder of the Supercross season. All Pourcel needs to do is finish inside the top four tonight to claim the championship, and judging by his dominant lap times, it looks like the Frenchman could do it tonight.

Fellow Kawasaki rider Dean Wilson is back in action after being detained in Canada for two rounds of the series. Wilson qualified second followed by Ryan Sipes, Martin Davalos and Kyle Cunningham.