Supercross: Anaheim 2 Results

Villopoto Becomes First Monster Energy Supercross Rider to Win Two Races in the 2012 Championship with Anaheim Victory. Tomac Takes Third Consecutive Supercross Lites Class Win

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto became the first rider of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, to win two races, leading all 20 laps of the Main Event tonight at Angel Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac won his third consecutive Western Regional Supercross Lites Class race and extended his points lead to 22.

Villopoto picked up his second Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot of the season to start the Supercross Class Main Event with TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray/Honda’s Chad Reed in tow. Reed passed Villopoto on the opening lap but was passed back the following lap. Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX’s James Stewart moved into third place on Lap 1. On Lap 8, Stewart passed Reed for second place. Stewart finished second and Reed finished third.

“James Stewart and Chad Reed were riding good tonight,” said Villopoto. “I knew I had to stay on my toes and not make a mistake. We need to take it one race at a time. I had a great start and to be perfect on the start difficult.”

It was an eventful evening for Stewart. While leading the first heat he mistimed a rhythm section and went down. In discomfort but electing to attempt the Last Chance Qualifying race the former champion made it through to the Main Event but without an ideal gate pick. Stewart dodged his way through the middle of the pack to reach title rival Reed and was able to demote the Australian but was then powerless to close up to the rear wheel of Villopoto.

One-Two: Stewart is beginning to find some consistency

“To get second tonight was actually pretty good considering how the heat race went and how beat up I feel right now,” Stewart said. “The crash knocked the wind out of me, and my ribs and my wrist, so I’ll be sore tomorrow, and probably Monday, but we’ll be back. It’s nothing we can’t handle, but I was just trying to get through the race from there.”

“I didn’t get the greatest of starts and made some passes. I made my way up to third and ended up getting by Chad six or seven laps into the race. I was trying to salvage something. I felt like I could have gone a bit faster but I will take that. It was tough out there and definitely one of the toughest of the year!”

“I am not pleased to finish off the podium for a second weekend in a row,” said Dungey. “I had a better start in the main event this weekend but I struggled to make my passes and allowed those guys to move ahead. I will continue to work on my starts for next weekend and make sure I get my KTM back on the podium to remain in the points chase for the championship”

“I had a rough weekend last week,” admitted Suzuki’s Bret Metcalfe, ninth overall. “I went down and didn’t have a good result. So I was really determined to put in a good result at Anaheim. I was feeling good on the track, but I was a little bit ‘off’ all day, so that was kind of a ‘bummer.’ Going into the heat race, I felt good and things were looking up, but I wheelied off the gate and got a bad start and ended up finishing eighth. In the Main, I got another bad start and was never able to get it going. But now, I’m looking forward to getting back into it this week and working hard and coming out for San Diego and trying to get things back on track.”

Lites

Tomac opened the Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class main Event with the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot with Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda’s Cole Seely, who won the season opening race in Anaheim earlier this year, on his rear wheel through the first turn. Seely quickly passed Tomac for the lead. On Lap 3, Seely slid out and fell back to second place as Tomac assumed the lead. Seely finished second and Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin able to maintain third place throughout the 15-lap main event despite heavy pressure from Dean Wilson in the final five laps finished third.

“Tonight’s track was difficult,” said Tomac. “It’s too bad Cole (Seely) slid out because he was going really fast, and I knew that I would have to work hard to get around him. I look forward to going to San Diego next weekend.”

Triple Three: Musquin cards another top three result

“I could feel that Wilson was close but I just continued to ride my own lines and I was able to hold him off and secure the podium spot,” Musquin said after the race. “I really focused on my starting technique this week during my training.” Musquin’s third place finish moved him to third overall in the point standings. With three rounds remaining in the West Lites, Musquin is only seven points shy of second place.