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EMIG: Villopoto Still Has Work To Do
SPEED Supercross expert Jeff Emig comments that the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross Championship has been like no other in the sport's history.
Jeff Emig  |  Posted March 26, 2011   Toronto (CAN)
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Steve Cox)
In all my years in this sport, I have never seen a season like this, with so many twists and turns. With the TV broadcasts, we have done a great job of following the storylines, sometimes predicting it. But who could have predicted that all of the title contenders would stay healthy? It’s hard to believe that up to this point most guys have raced every event. It's a true testament to their desire to be World Champion.

Last weekend in Jacksonville essentially put this championship back into the blender to get mixed up. Just when you thought Ryan Villopoto had a handle on it, he has a major blunder. This has opened the door for Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey once again.

At this point, Villopoto’s control of the championship is now gone. Now it’s simply time to win. It’s time for him to get mentally tough and put it behind him. He simply needs to believe in himself and go back out and win.

As for James Stewart, it seemed as if he was more patient with his riding than in previous years, but he’s still made some critical mistakes and I didn’t expect that. Maybe what works for him is to go out and kick some ass each week to gain a huge points lead and just accept that sometimes he will give some back to his competitors. James will need to be perfect to have a shot at the title over the rest of the season. Reed and Dungey will need wins. Period.

Villopoto is still the guy to focus on. He’s won the most races, has the points lead, and is always a threat to win. However, he has a lot of work to do along with the rest of the field if he wants to claim this championship. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Monster Energy Supercross round from Toronto, Canada will air on SPEED on Sunday, March 27th starting at 5:00pm ET.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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