Salt Lake City Supercross 2013 was by far the most entertaining supercross race of the season. With Ken Roczen failing to quality for the Main Event, Eli Tomac had a chance to take the points lead going into the final round, but his nerves got the best of him. Ryan Villopoto joins an elite list of names to 3 peat Supercross championships but had pressure the entire race from Davi Millsaps who went through the whoops faster than anyone I’ve seen.
It is sunny and dry in Utah with most riders wearing hand guards because of the rocky dirt. The start is very short with a 180 degree first turn, looking for a lot of pileups today. In the 250 West Qualifying, it’s Kenny Roczen quickest at 48.48 seconds. Martin Davalos next at 48.89, Jason Anderson 49 even, Zach Osborne 49.11, Ryan Sipes 49.44, Cole Seely 49.53, Malcolm Stewart 49.59, Christian Craig 49.84, Kyle Cunningham 50 seconds even, and Eli Tomac 50.1 out of 46 riders.
The 450 Qualifying shows Davi Millsaps having the quickest lap at 47.46 seconds. Ryan Dungey is next – 47.73 seconds. Ryan Villopoto third – 48.47 seconds. Trey Canard – 48.52. Justin Barcia – 48.56, Justin Brayton 48.67, Josh Hill 48.85, Broc Tickle 48.99, Ben Lamay 49.01, Chad Reed tenth out of 40 riders at 49.26.
If Villopoto wins today he will join a list of only 3 other riders that have won 3 consecutive supercross championships. Bob Hannah did it from 1977 – 1979, Jeremy McGrath has done it twice, 1993 – 1996 and 1998 – 2000, and Ricky Carmichael won three consecutive titles, 2001 – 2003.
250 West Heat 1 – The lites heats will go 6 laps. Martin Davalos has the holeshot, and he’s followed by Zach Osborne. Eli Tomac has crashed in the first corner, but comes around at the end of the first lap in about tenth.
At the halfway point, it’s Davalos leading, Osborne is second, and Joey Savatgy running third. Tomac has moved up to fifth!
Martin Davalos wins heat 1. Zach Osborne follows second. Joey Savatgy takes third. And Eli Tomac takes fifth.
250 West Heat 2 – Jason Anderson takes the early lead, and then in the second corner – Ken Roczen goes down. And now Malcolm Stewart (number 32 KTM) has taken over the lead …
Just past the halfway point – it’s Malcolm Stewart flying leading the race, Jason Anderson is running second, and Tyla Rattray is third. Ken Roczen is 17th … and then he pulls of the track! Roczen tells the media he’s saving his strength for the LCQ. Could be a bad move as anything can happen, especially with this start.
Malcolm Stewart (younger brother of James Stewart) is going to win his first ever race in AMA Supercross! Malcolm Stewart wins this heat race! Jason Anderson takes second, Tyla Rattray third. Ken Roczen will have to go to the LCQ …
450 Heat 1 – Ryan Dungey and his RedBull KTM has the early lead followed by Trey Canard pulling into second …
At the end of of the first lap, it’s Dungey leading, then Canard, Andrew Short, Broc Tickle, Chad Reed, Vince Friese, Weston Peick, and Justin Brayton.
Halfway through, it’s Dungey leading, followed by Canard second, Short third, then Broc Tickle and Weston Peick. Chad Reed has bike issues, it looks like a rock is stuck in his brake lever, he’s fading and eventually pulls off.
Ryan Dungey wins heat 1! Second goes to Trey Canard. Third is Andrew Short. Then Tickle, Peick, and Brayton. Reedy finishes 19th – he’ll go to the LCQ too.
450 SX Heat 2 – Ryan Villopoto leads Davi Millsaps on lap one. And one lap in – Millsaps passes Villopoto to take the lead! Third and fourth are Josh Hill and Justin Barcia.
Davi Millsaps Salt Lake City Supercross
Millsaps is starting to pull away from Villopoto. Millsaps has put down the quickest lap of the night – 46.6 seconds.
Davi Millsaps wins heat 2 followed by Ryan Villopoto. Strategy by Villopoto to save some energy for the main event?. Josh Hill takes third, and Justin Barcia finishes fourth.
The 450 Main Event is probably going to come down once again to the top three in the series, Ryan Villopoto, Davi Millsaps, and Ryan Dungey.
250 LCQ – Kenny Roczen, who leads the 250 West Points chase, goes down in the first corner with a lot of other riders. The leader is Topher Ingalls.
Ken Roczen Salt Lake Supercross Crash
After 2 quick laps Roczen has made his way to 3rd place but needs 1 more to get into the main.
One lap to go – Travis Baker has the lead. Ingalls is second. Roczen is about five seconds back Ingalls.
As the checkered flag waves – Ken Roczen fails to make the 250 Main Event! Eli Tomac has a chance to take over the points lead after being 20 points down coming into the race. But he’s going to have to ride harder than he did in his heat. The whoops have been his Achilles heel in his heat race.
450 LCQ – Chad Reed does what a two-time AMA Supercross Series (2004, 2008) does – win. Cody Gilmore takes second.
250 West Main Event – 15 laps, here we go. How will Eli Tomac respond with Roczen out of the race? If Tomac finishes third in the main, they will be tied on points going into Vegas. If Tomac gets second, he’ll have a two point advantage over Roczen. If Tomac wins, he’ll have a five point advantage over Roczen.
The early leader is Zach Osborne (338 Honda). Eli Tomac is running second. Jason Anderson is third.
On Lap Jason Anderson passes Osborne and into the lead. Cole Seely passes Tomac, and then Osborne!
Jason Anderson continues leading, with Cole Seely second. Zach Osborne is third, and Eli Tomac is fourth.
Tomac is struggling. Hes making a lot of mental mistakes and continuing to fall back. Martin Davalos passes Tomac. At the end of five laps – it’s Anderson, Seely, Davalos, Osborne, Tomac, and Kyle Cunningham.
Eli Tomac Salt Lake Supercross
Ken Roczen, even missing this event, could still go into Vegas with the points lead. Tomac is continuing to struggle, and is running lap times two seconds slower than Jason Anderson.
At the ten lap point –Jason Anderson continues to lead and could win his first ever main event. Then Cole Seely is second. Martin Davalos third. Malcolm Stewart has moved to fourth! Then Zach Osborne, Ryan Sipes, Kyle Cunningham, Christian Craig, and Eli Tomac ninth.
The checkered flag falls – and Jason Anderson wins his first ever 250 Supercross Main Event! Cole Seely takes second. Martin Davalos third. Eli Tomac finds a late surge and works his way up to sixth. Ken Roczen still has the points lead going into the finale in Las Vegas next Saturday night!
450 Supercross Main Event – 20 laps, and we’re off with Ryan Dungey getting the holeshot – but by the third corner, Ryan Villopto has moved into the lead on a block pass! And by the end of the first lap, Davi Millsaps is third.
Millsaps and Dungey have to get by Villopoto in order for the championship to come down to the finale in Vegas. But Villopoto is leading and pulling away.
Millsaps make the pass on Dungey.
Five laps complete – Villopoto leads Millsaps by 2.5 seconds. Dungey is two seconds behind Millsaps. Millsaps continues to make up so much time through a tough whoop section.
The ten lap point – halfway – lap riders are starting to become a factor, even running into Chad Reed!
It was a dramatic final ten laps – Villopoto leading, Millsaps chasing, Dungey right behind him. Millsaps is right on his rear tire……
But Ryan Villopoto win it! He wins the race, clinches the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Championship – his third straight!
Villopoto said after the race “Winning the championship is unreal. It’s amazing, especially to make it three in a row. We started out the season rough – I can’t thank everyone enough, especially my wife, my trainer, my mom and dad, my entire team.”
250 West Main Event Results:
- Jason Anderson – SUZ
- Cole Seely – HON
- Martin Davalos – KAW
- Malcolm Stewart – KTM
- Christian Craig – HON
- Eli Tomac – HON
- Ryan Sipes – SUZ
- Tyla Rattray – KAW
- Joey Savatgy – KTM
- Travis Baker – YAM
- Kyle Cunningham – YAM
- Zach Osborne – HON
- Dakota Tedder – KAW
- Topher Ingalls – HON
- Scott Champion – HON
- Tyler Bereman – KAW
- Casey Hinson – HON
- Ross Johnson – HON
- Austin Politelli – HON
- Bracken Hall – HON
250 West Point standings:
- Ken Roczen – 163
- Eli Tomac – 158
- Cole Seely – 135
- Jason Anderson – 124
- Martin Davalos – 114
- Zach Osborne – 111
- Kyle Cunningham – 96
- Christian Craig – 87
- Tyla Rattray – 87
- Joey Savatgy – 87
- Malcolm Stewart – 74
- Austin Politelli – 74
- Travis Baker – 70
- Jessy Nelson – 60
- Ryan Sipes – 59
- Max Anstie – 38
450 Main Event Results:
- Ryan Villopoto – KAW
- Davi Millsaps – SUZ
- Ryan Dungey – KTM
- Trey Canard – HON
- Justin Barcia – HON
- Justin Brayton – YAM
- Josh Hill – SUZ
- Andrew Short – KTM
- Weston Peick – SUZ
- Chad Reed – HON
- Broc Tickle – SUZ
- Ben Lamay – YAM
- Jake Weimer – KAW
- Rob Kiniry – YAM
- Phil Nicoletti – YAM
- Vince Friese – HON
- Chris Blose – YAM
- Cody Gilmore – KAW
- A Enticknap – HON
- K Partridge – HON
450 Point standings:
- Ryan Villopoto – 346
- Davi Millsaps – 318
- Ryan Dungey – 315
- Justin Barcia – 261
- Chad Reed – 224
- Trey Canard – 220
- Andrew Short – 202
- Justin Brayton – 177
- James Stewart – 174
- Broc Tickle – 165
- Jake Weimer – 139
- Matt Goerke – 139
- Mike Alessi – 107
- Weston Peick – 91
- Josh Hill – 86
- Robert Kiniry – 57
- Eli Tomac – 52
- Phil Nicoletti – 48
- Vince Friese – 45
- Chris Blose – 44
Next week in Las Vegas will be very interesting at least for the Lites Championship with Tomac only being a few points back.
Round 16 – Monster Energy - Salt Lake City Supercross 2013
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