Anticipation was high as Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California was set to host the opening round of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross FIM World Championship series.
The 2011 edition of the series saw a thrilling 5-way battle for the championship, the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades. Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, James Stewart and Trey Canard all won races and thrilled fans at each of the 17 rounds with unpredictable racing filled with drama and excitement.
Enter 2012 and all the usual contenders mixed with a few new faces and some old-blood hoping to get back in the mix, and you have one high-excitement season opener.
The day started off much like some would expect, with James Stewart setting the pace in qualifying practice, something he has done more often than not throughout his career. James was looking good in his debut for the JGR/Toyota MX team.
Also setting fast times in qualifying was last years champ, Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, Ryan Villopoto. Villopoto had his #1 KX450F on top of the board in the first round of practices, but ultimately wound-up a little over a second off of the pace set by Stewart by the time the final practice had wrapped-up.
Another one of the big question marks coming in to the 2012 season, was how 2010 champ, Ryan Dungey, would transition from his tried and proven Suzuki RM-Z450, to the all-new Red Bull KTM 450. Dungey was able to start the day off the right way, slotting into 3rd in qualifying.
The veteran of the title-contenders, Chad Reed, was back for his sophomore season with his own TwoTwo Motorsports team, this year picking up factory Honda backing to aid in what he hopes will be a winning season. Reed was a solid 4th in the first round of qualifying, but seemed to struggle the second time out and could only manage to qualify in 8th.
Last year's rookie-sensation, Trey Canard, wasn't present in qualifying, as he made a decision to sit the first round out to continue recovering from a broken collarbone.
The first heat race of the night featured two of the biggest names in the sport, Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed, as well as new factory Honda/Muscle Milk rider, Justin Brayton. When the gate dropped, it was the #800 Motoconcepts Suzuki of Mike Alessi grabbing the first holeshot of the 2012 season, with Chad Reed quickly into 2nd. Ryan Villopoto suffered a poor start and was forced to work his way through the pack. Alessi led the first couple of laps before Reed eventually found his way past and began to open up a gap. Villopoto wasted no time slicing through the field, and by the time the 8-lap heat race was over, was nipping at the heels of Alessi for 2nd. Justin Brayton went down in the first corner and would be forced to go to the last chance qualifier.
SX Heat 1
1. Chad Reed.
2. Mike Alessi
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Davi Millsaps
5. Ryan Morais
6. Broc Tickle
7. Josh Hansen
8. Jimmy Albertson
9. Chris Blose
The second heat race of the evening featured top qualifier James Stewart and new KTM rider Ryan Dungey. Rounding the first turn ahead of the field was Andrew Short on his Supercross.com Honda, with Dungey behind him. Stewart didn't get the greatest start, but made a few quick moves to get towards the front. Ultimately, Stewart was able to pass both Dungey and Short, and the man who won the most heat races in 2011 started off 2012 with another victory. Dungey held on for a close 2nd and Short an equally-close 3rd.
SX Heat 2
1. James Stewart
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Andrew Short
4. Jake Weimer
5. Ivan Tedesco
6. Brett Metcalfe
7. Josh Grant
8. Kevin Windham
9. Kyle Chisholm
The last chance qualifier featured some big names including Justin Brayton, Tommy Hahn, Nick Wey, Jeff Alessi, Josh Hill and Austin Stroupe. It was rather humbling to think that only two of the above mentioned riders had a shot at making the night's main event. In the end it was Honda-mounted Justin Brayton taking the win, riding a steady race to put his #10 bike into the main. Tommy Hahn would take the 2nd and final transfer spot while Nick Wey would be the first rider to miss the main event taking 3rd. Hearbreak for Hart and Huntington/Dodge/Kawasaki's Josh Hill, who, in his return from injury, crashed on lap 1 and had to leave the track in the back of a medic Mule.
LCQ
1. Justin Brayton
2. Tommy Hahn
At last, the moment everyone had been waiting for. The first 450 main event of the 2012 season. All the hype that led up to this, as the excitement reached a fever-pitch. It was time to see who had done their homework and was truly prepared for the grueling 17 round championship battle.
As the bikes rocketed into the first turn, it appeared that Chad Reed would grab the holeshot, but Ryan Villopoto made a move on the inside and stole it away. Reed would be 2nd off the start before briefly being passed by Ivan Tedesco, but was able to get the position back. Ryan Dungey was into the top 5 early while James Stewart suffered another poor start, outside of the top 10 early-on.
Ahead of the field, Villopoto was charging and in the first few laps, had already pulled out a commanding lead. Reed was in a comfortable 2nd, but behind him, a battle began to brew. Dungey, in 3rd, had washed the front wheel out and gone down, allowing Stewart, who had worked his way into 4th, to go past. Dungey re-grouped, though, and began challenging Stewart again. Dungey was able to get by and back into 3rd just as Chad Reed made a mistake in a turn, beginning a three-way battle for 2nd between Reed, Dungey and Stewart.
It appeared that the battle for 2nd was going to go down to the finish, until Stewart made a mistake on a table-top and crashed, falling back outside the top five. Dungey, free of the pressure from Stewart, began to apply some pressure of his own to Reed in pursuit of the runner-up spot. By this time, Villopoto was on cruise-control, the victory well in-hand.
The battle between Reed and Dungey came down to the wire, but Reed was able to hold on. Justin Brayton rode a great race for 4th while Stewart rebounded for 6th.
Main Event
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Chad Reed
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Justin Brayton
5. Jake Weimer
6. James Stewart
7. Andrew Short
8. Kevin Windham
9. Mike Alessi
10. Josh Hansen
11. Brett Metcalfe
12. Broc Tickle
13. Ivan Tedesco
14. Kyle Chisholm
15. Ryan Morais
16. Davi Millsaps
17. Jimmy Albertson
18. Chris Blose
19. Josh Grant
20. Tommy Hahn
Showing posts with label Supercross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supercross. Show all posts
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Toronto Supercross race report
I wrote this report a couple of weeks ago when I got home from the race. Unfortunately, I'm not going to any more of the Supercross races left on the 2011 calendar, but I'm going to do my best to recap the action right here the day after.
Well, I've just stepped in the door after spending today at the Rogers Centre for round 12 of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM world championship, and am barely able to process everything I witnessed. What an exciting night of racing it was!
All day and night long the rocky, rutty technical track caused havoc, particularly the monstrous whoops section. Many of the Lites riders spent the majority of practice trying to figure out a way to get through them safely, while the Supercross class riders were searching for ways to keep their momentum up.
One of the key elements of the Toronto track, was the long start straight that led into a left handed first corner that quickly turned back into a right handed turn into a sand section. This combination made a good start even more important than usual, as it seemed to separate the pack quite early. This was especially evident in the Lites LCQ, as the top 3 riders on lap 1, remained in the top 3 to the finish. Taylor Futrell and Ricky Renner took the transfer spots, with Tyler Bright just missing out and being handed the Asterisk Medic card awarding him $250 for his efforts.
Speaking of LCQs, the Supercross class last chance race was a real thriller, featuring great battles between factory riders Andrew Short and Fabien Izoird, and well-known privateers Jason Thomas and Vince Friese. The last lap battling between Izoird and Thomas for the final transfer spot was well-appreciated by the fans. KTM 350 mounted Andrew Short managed to turn a 4th place start into a win after passing aforementioned Friese, Izoird and finally Thomas for the lead. While Izoird pressured Thomas for second, it allowed Friese to close in on the battle for the final transfer spot. However, a last-lap pass allowed the factory Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, Izoird, to put his KX450F into the main event by a mere 4 tenths of a second over BTOSports.com/Butler Brother's Suzuki mounted Jason Thomas.
Lites Heat 1
1. Dean Wilson
2. Blake Baggett
3. Malcolm Stewart
4. Darryn Durham
5. Blake Wharton
6. PJ Larsen
7. Hunter Hewitt
8. Les Smith
9. Brad Ripple
Lites Heat 2
1. Justin Barcia
2. Gannon Audette
3. Lance Vincent
4. Matt Lemoine
5. Ryan Sipes
6. Justin Sipes
7. AJ Catanzaro
8. Alex Martin
9. Jason Anderson
The Lites main event saw Blake Wharton grabbing the holeshot and the early lead, just ahead of Blake Baggett, who would quickly throw it away in the sand section. Also up front, was Wharton's teammate at Geico Powersports Honda, and current Lites East championship points leader, Justin Barcia, as well as DNA Shredstix Star Racing Yamaha's Ryan Sipes. Sipes, though, was involved in an early altercation with the Geico teammates that saw him forced off the track and onto the concrete stadium floor. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider, Dean Wilson, began quickly working his way up, as Barcia put the pass for the lead on Wharton. Eventually, Wilson found his way into second and began setting his sights on his rival who was trying to run away in the lead. On lap 9, Wilson was able to make the pass, and quickly pulled a couple of seconds on Barcia. He would easily hold on to the lead, eventually pulling a nearly 4 second gap at the finish. Blake Wharton would hold on to round out the podium, and JDR J-star KTM rider, PJ Larsen, would finish a season and career best 4th. Ryan Sipes rebounded in a fantastic ride to come back up to 5th place at the conclusion of the race.
While I'm on the topic of Ryan Sipes, I wanted to commend him for something that happened during Lites heat race #2. While Sipes was attempting to work his way through the pack, he tangled just before the finish line with rider number 498, Cody Robbins. Robbins went down in a heap and he rolled unconscious down the berm. It was a very scary moment, it seemed as if the racing on the rest of the track almost stopped. As soon as the race was finished, Ryan Sipes rode right over to make sure he was okay. He stayed a while, until Robbins eventually regained consciousness. Cody would eventually walk to the medic Mule with some assistance. It was a nasty looking situation, and the crowd cheered and clapped as Cody stood up.
Supercross Heat 1
1. Trey Canard
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Kevin Windham
4. Davi Millsaps
5. Nick Wey
6. Cole Seely
7. Chris Blose
8. Austin Stroupe
9. Matt Boni
Supercross Heat 2
1. James Stewart
2. Chad Reed
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Ivan Tedesco
5. Michael Byrne
6. Weston Peick
7. Justin Brayton
8. Tye Simmonds
9. Mike Alessi
As the gate dropped on the Supercross main event, it was Fabien Izoird grabbing the holeshot from the outside gate choice. Transferring out of the LCQ usually means a poor chance at a good start, but Fabien pulled it off. Defending series champion, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, would take over the lead very early in the race and never relinquish it, despite a slight off-track excursion for himself, and a solid charge by Two Two Motorsport's Chad Reed who would finish 2nd and inherit the championship points lead in the process. Rounding out the podium in 3rd, was Honda Racing's Trey Canard, winner of the series' last race a week ago in Jacksonville. Trey set the fastest laptime of the main event and stayed in the hunt early on, but seemed to fade just a litte towards the end. A great ride was put in by San Manuel Yamaha rider, James Stewart, to come home in 4th place. While I'm sure he wanted to take the win, he had a nearly last place start, and while moving through the field, ran into Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto, who led the points race coming into Toronto. Both riders went down, but Stewart remounted much quicker and continued charging through the pack. Villopoto, meanwhile, had to pull into the mechanics area momentarily to correct something with his KX450F. Villopoto would eventually claw his way up to 9th place and now sits 3 points behind Chad Reed with 5 rounds still to be run in the series.
In a series that has had more ups and downs than any rollercoaster I've ever been on, it's starting to look like the consistency of Ryan Dungey and Chad Reed is going to keep them right in the title hunt to the end. It will be interesting now to see what defending champ Dungey can do now that he's got a win under his built. We saw last season how dangerous he can be when he's confident and gets on a roll.
After all that I witnessed tonight, the only thing I can think of now, is how much I can't wait until next Saturday! Somehow, I don't think we've seen the last bit of craziness yet...
Lites Main
1. Dean Wilson
2. Justin Barcia
3. Blake Wharton
4. PJ Larsen
5. Ryan Sipes
6. Blake Baggett
7. Gannon Audette
8. Hunter Hewitt
9. Darryn Durham
10. Matt Lemoine
11. Justin Sipes
12. Les Smith
13. AJ Catanzaro
14. Alex Martin
15. Lance Vincent
16. Ricky Renner
17. Taylor Futrell
18. Brad Ripple
19. Malcolm Stewart
20. Jason Anderson
Supercross Main
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Chad Reed
3. Trey Canard
4. James Stewart
5. Justin Brayton
6. Nick Wey
7. Andrew Short
8. Kevin Windham
9. Ryan Villopoto
10. Cole Seely
11. Davi Millsaps
12. Weston Peick
13. Fabien Izoird
14. Michael Byrne
15. Tye Simmonds
16. Matt Boni
17. Chris Blose
18. Ivan Tedesco
19. Austin Stroupe
20. Mike Alessi
Well, I've just stepped in the door after spending today at the Rogers Centre for round 12 of the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM world championship, and am barely able to process everything I witnessed. What an exciting night of racing it was!
All day and night long the rocky, rutty technical track caused havoc, particularly the monstrous whoops section. Many of the Lites riders spent the majority of practice trying to figure out a way to get through them safely, while the Supercross class riders were searching for ways to keep their momentum up.
One of the key elements of the Toronto track, was the long start straight that led into a left handed first corner that quickly turned back into a right handed turn into a sand section. This combination made a good start even more important than usual, as it seemed to separate the pack quite early. This was especially evident in the Lites LCQ, as the top 3 riders on lap 1, remained in the top 3 to the finish. Taylor Futrell and Ricky Renner took the transfer spots, with Tyler Bright just missing out and being handed the Asterisk Medic card awarding him $250 for his efforts.
Speaking of LCQs, the Supercross class last chance race was a real thriller, featuring great battles between factory riders Andrew Short and Fabien Izoird, and well-known privateers Jason Thomas and Vince Friese. The last lap battling between Izoird and Thomas for the final transfer spot was well-appreciated by the fans. KTM 350 mounted Andrew Short managed to turn a 4th place start into a win after passing aforementioned Friese, Izoird and finally Thomas for the lead. While Izoird pressured Thomas for second, it allowed Friese to close in on the battle for the final transfer spot. However, a last-lap pass allowed the factory Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, Izoird, to put his KX450F into the main event by a mere 4 tenths of a second over BTOSports.com/Butler Brother's Suzuki mounted Jason Thomas.
Lites Heat 1
1. Dean Wilson
2. Blake Baggett
3. Malcolm Stewart
4. Darryn Durham
5. Blake Wharton
6. PJ Larsen
7. Hunter Hewitt
8. Les Smith
9. Brad Ripple
Lites Heat 2
1. Justin Barcia
2. Gannon Audette
3. Lance Vincent
4. Matt Lemoine
5. Ryan Sipes
6. Justin Sipes
7. AJ Catanzaro
8. Alex Martin
9. Jason Anderson
The Lites main event saw Blake Wharton grabbing the holeshot and the early lead, just ahead of Blake Baggett, who would quickly throw it away in the sand section. Also up front, was Wharton's teammate at Geico Powersports Honda, and current Lites East championship points leader, Justin Barcia, as well as DNA Shredstix Star Racing Yamaha's Ryan Sipes. Sipes, though, was involved in an early altercation with the Geico teammates that saw him forced off the track and onto the concrete stadium floor. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider, Dean Wilson, began quickly working his way up, as Barcia put the pass for the lead on Wharton. Eventually, Wilson found his way into second and began setting his sights on his rival who was trying to run away in the lead. On lap 9, Wilson was able to make the pass, and quickly pulled a couple of seconds on Barcia. He would easily hold on to the lead, eventually pulling a nearly 4 second gap at the finish. Blake Wharton would hold on to round out the podium, and JDR J-star KTM rider, PJ Larsen, would finish a season and career best 4th. Ryan Sipes rebounded in a fantastic ride to come back up to 5th place at the conclusion of the race.
While I'm on the topic of Ryan Sipes, I wanted to commend him for something that happened during Lites heat race #2. While Sipes was attempting to work his way through the pack, he tangled just before the finish line with rider number 498, Cody Robbins. Robbins went down in a heap and he rolled unconscious down the berm. It was a very scary moment, it seemed as if the racing on the rest of the track almost stopped. As soon as the race was finished, Ryan Sipes rode right over to make sure he was okay. He stayed a while, until Robbins eventually regained consciousness. Cody would eventually walk to the medic Mule with some assistance. It was a nasty looking situation, and the crowd cheered and clapped as Cody stood up.
Supercross Heat 1
1. Trey Canard
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Kevin Windham
4. Davi Millsaps
5. Nick Wey
6. Cole Seely
7. Chris Blose
8. Austin Stroupe
9. Matt Boni
Supercross Heat 2
1. James Stewart
2. Chad Reed
3. Ryan Villopoto
4. Ivan Tedesco
5. Michael Byrne
6. Weston Peick
7. Justin Brayton
8. Tye Simmonds
9. Mike Alessi
As the gate dropped on the Supercross main event, it was Fabien Izoird grabbing the holeshot from the outside gate choice. Transferring out of the LCQ usually means a poor chance at a good start, but Fabien pulled it off. Defending series champion, Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Ryan Dungey, would take over the lead very early in the race and never relinquish it, despite a slight off-track excursion for himself, and a solid charge by Two Two Motorsport's Chad Reed who would finish 2nd and inherit the championship points lead in the process. Rounding out the podium in 3rd, was Honda Racing's Trey Canard, winner of the series' last race a week ago in Jacksonville. Trey set the fastest laptime of the main event and stayed in the hunt early on, but seemed to fade just a litte towards the end. A great ride was put in by San Manuel Yamaha rider, James Stewart, to come home in 4th place. While I'm sure he wanted to take the win, he had a nearly last place start, and while moving through the field, ran into Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto, who led the points race coming into Toronto. Both riders went down, but Stewart remounted much quicker and continued charging through the pack. Villopoto, meanwhile, had to pull into the mechanics area momentarily to correct something with his KX450F. Villopoto would eventually claw his way up to 9th place and now sits 3 points behind Chad Reed with 5 rounds still to be run in the series.
In a series that has had more ups and downs than any rollercoaster I've ever been on, it's starting to look like the consistency of Ryan Dungey and Chad Reed is going to keep them right in the title hunt to the end. It will be interesting now to see what defending champ Dungey can do now that he's got a win under his built. We saw last season how dangerous he can be when he's confident and gets on a roll.
After all that I witnessed tonight, the only thing I can think of now, is how much I can't wait until next Saturday! Somehow, I don't think we've seen the last bit of craziness yet...
Lites Main
1. Dean Wilson
2. Justin Barcia
3. Blake Wharton
4. PJ Larsen
5. Ryan Sipes
6. Blake Baggett
7. Gannon Audette
8. Hunter Hewitt
9. Darryn Durham
10. Matt Lemoine
11. Justin Sipes
12. Les Smith
13. AJ Catanzaro
14. Alex Martin
15. Lance Vincent
16. Ricky Renner
17. Taylor Futrell
18. Brad Ripple
19. Malcolm Stewart
20. Jason Anderson
Supercross Main
1. Ryan Dungey
2. Chad Reed
3. Trey Canard
4. James Stewart
5. Justin Brayton
6. Nick Wey
7. Andrew Short
8. Kevin Windham
9. Ryan Villopoto
10. Cole Seely
11. Davi Millsaps
12. Weston Peick
13. Fabien Izoird
14. Michael Byrne
15. Tye Simmonds
16. Matt Boni
17. Chris Blose
18. Ivan Tedesco
19. Austin Stroupe
20. Mike Alessi
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