Ryan Villopoto had little trouble winning both 450 motos at the final outdoor National of the year. Photography by Kit Palmer.
Ryan Villopoto capped off his championship-winning season with another dominating performance at the final round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park.
On another hot and dry day in Southern California (with temperatures reaching triple digits), Villopoto, who clinched the 450 title last week, ran away in both 450 motos on his Mike Williamson-tuned Monster Energy Kawasaki, pulling away from season-long rival Ryan Dungey and taking the double-moto wins with room to spare. Although he didn’t snare either holeshots, he did own the lead at the end of both motos and rode off with the wins. He even made it look easy on the man-made Elsinore track.
Dungey, on the Red Bull KTM, didn’t get the best of starts but was able to get into second place fairly early in both motos but the damage was already done and wasn’t able to latch on to Villopoto and give him much of a threat.
Third overall went to Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia. Barcia was running third in the first moto but wasn’t on the lead pace as the two riders ahead of him. In fact, he was more worried about the rider behind him, his teammate Trey Canard, than moving forward. Barcia lost the battle with Canard and finished fourth.
After making suspension changes between motos, Barcia again found himself in third but riding much better this time. He held the position the whole way, and his 4-3 was good enough for third overall.
Canard was 27th after the first lap of the second moto but caught up to 10th before it was all over for sixth overall.
A sporadic 8-4 gave Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer fourth overall, while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray rounded out the top five with 7-6 moto finishes.
JGRMX/Toyota Yamaha’s Josh Grant matched his season best with a third in the first moto (he also finished third in a moto at RedBud) but did not start the second moto. Grant said the heat got to him in the first moto and had an I.V. between motos.
Villopoto finished out the outdoor series 56 points ahead of Dungey, who finished well ahead of Barcia. Fourth in the series went to Canard, followed by James Stewart, Weimer, Andrew Short, Broc Tickle, Mike Aliess and Grant.
RESULTS 450
Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park
Lake Elsinore, California
August 24, 2013 (Round 12 of 12)
1. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki (1-1)
2. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (2-2)
3. Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Honda (5-3)
4. Jake Weimer, Twin Falls, Idaho, Kawasaki (8-4)
5. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (7-6)
6. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (4-10)
7. Mike Alessi, Hilliard, Fla., Suzuki (12-5)
8. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Kawasaki (10-8)
9. Andrew Short, Colorado Springs, Colo., KTM (6-12)
10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki (11-11)
11. Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Yamaha (3-38)
12. Justin Brayton, Fort Dodge, Iowa, Yamaha (14-9)
13. Ryan Sipes, Vine Grove, Ky., Suzuki (13-14)
14. Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda (9-18)
15. Weston Peick, Wildomar, Calif., Suzuki (33-7)
16. Ben LaMay, Wasilla, Ala., Yamaha (16-13)
17. Nick Wey, DeWitt, Mich., Kawasaki (17-17)
18. Michael Byrne, Australia, KTM (23-15)
19. Phil Nicoletti, Cohocton, N.Y., Yamaha (15-37)
20. Zackery Freeberg, Riverview, Fla., Honda (22-16)
