OAKLAND, CA, JAN. 25 – Today at the Coliseum it was the two men who looked very much on a mission for some redemption who topped qualifying in their respective classes going into tonight’s Oakland Supercross – Ryan Villopoto and Dean Wilson.
Defending AMA Supercross champ Villopoto needs to get back on track after a disappointing Anaheim II. And if his riding on the track showed anything, Villopoto looks to be focused and in great form and he ended up topping both qualifying sessions.
James Stewart looked strong most of the session, but when there was three minutes left of the session the top five leaderboard had numbers jumping all over the place with such a stacked field fighting for position. But in the end Stewart got it done and grabbed the second spot, falling just short Villopoto’s best by .127 of a second.
Ultimately finishing with the third best time was Justin Brayton. The man with the red plate – Ken Roczen – followed him in fourth with his teammate Ryan Dungey in fifth. Justin Barcia fell back outside of the top five in sixth and last week’s winner Chad Reed ended up seventh.
Villopoto’s teammate Jake Weimer qualified eighth, improving from his 10th place in the first session. And rounding out the top 10 was Wil Hahn and Andrew Short in ninth and 10th, respectively.
While Villopoto and Stewart were the only two to drop into the 54s, they did not leave the rest of the field behind. The top seven were within a second of Villopoto, setting the stage for another night of close racing for tonight’s race.
Leading the way in the 250 class in both sessions was a very confident Wilson. Jason Anderson was also in top form and did his best to take that top spot away late in the second session. But Wilson fired right back on the last lap to snatch the lead away from Anderson by .175 of a second.
The pair were also the only ones in their class to drop into the 5’s with the rest of the field over 1.4 seconds behind.
Leading the best of the rest was Wilson’s teammate Justin Hill in third. Cooper Webb and the red plate holder Cole Seely trailed in fourth and fifth, respectively. In sixth was Geico Honda’s Zach Osborne.
Seely’s teammate Malcolm Stewart took seventh, while Michael Lieb followed in eighth. And closing out the top 10 were Jake Canada and Jessy Nelson.
450 Supercross Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) 54.830
2. James Stewart (Suzuki) 54.957
3. Justin Brayton (Yamaha) 55.155
4. Ken Roczen (KTM) 55.174
5. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 55.301
6. Justin Barcia (Honda) 55.337
7. Chad Reed (Kawasaki) 55.486
8. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) 56.041
9. Wil Hahn (Honda) 56.177
10. Andrew Short (KTM) 56.558
250 Supercross Results
1. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) 54.613
2. Jason Anderson (KTM) 54.770
3. Justin Hill (Kawasaki) 56.097
4. Cooper Webb (Yamaha) 56.508
5. Cole Seely (Honda) 56.624
6. Zach Osborne (Honda) 56.671
7. Malcolm Stewart (Honda) 56.899
8. Michael Lieb (Honda) 57.651
9. Jake Canada (Honda) 57.795
10. Jessy Nelson (Honda) 58.043
