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Supercross & Motocross
SX: The Holeshot - Daytona
Ryan Villopoto’s season-long claw back from a nightmarish opening round is complete, and now he’s on a path that could lead to a third-consecutive title.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 11 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship from Indianapolis, IN will air LIVE on SPEED on Saturday, March 16th at 8:30pm ET.
'Brutal', 'grueling', and 'unlike anything else' they’ll see all year -- those are just some of the ways riders describe the one-of-a-kind Daytona Supercross, which resembles a motocross race in the middle of the Supercross campaign.
Traditionally, Daytona is the toughest test the riders will face all season long. Whether rain or clear skies, its unique combination of a natural soil and traditional Supercross obstacles means it always deteriorates, and that, combined with its lengthy lap times, can lead to some of the most dramatic swings in any given championship.
While the rain stayed away this year, Daytona still provided the most championship-altering night of the 2013 season. Over the past month, Ryan Villopoto has been on a mission to officially recover from the 16th-place finish that kicked off his second title defense. He’s won three of the past four races and, after registering arguably the most dominant performance of the season thus far, is back on top of the championship standings.
While Villopoto’s victory wasn’t a surprise, as evidenced by his recent surge, the difficulties that former championship leader Davi Millsaps suffered in Daytona has garnered equal attention. Throughout the first eight weeks of the season, it appeared as though Millsaps could do no wrong. He pulled great starts and he was almost a lock to finish on the podium. However, when the series hit St. Louis, things began to change.
In the two weeks prior to St. Louis, Millsaps battled through illness that kept him off the bike during the week, and somewhat limited his ultimate potential on Saturday nights. Nevertheless, he still battled to finish on the podium and looked well on his way to control the standings for the foreseeable future. However, St. Louis saw Millsaps’ worst start of the season and forced him to go bar-to-bar alongside the deeply talented field of competitors who were all racing with the same objective to rise to the front. It was a physical night for Millsaps, but he emerged with a solid sixth-place effort. Despite the hard-earned result, he still lost a 10-point chunk in his lead and suffered a contusion to his elbow.
The soreness lingered and Millsaps crashed in preparation for Daytona, reportedly leaving him with a banged up knee. That appeared to carry over into last Saturday’s main event where Millsaps once again got a bad start, and simply didn’t have the firepower to work through the field. No doubt, the rough Daytona conditions combined with his physical ailments prevented Millsaps from being where he wanted to be and he had to settle for a season's worst 10th-place finish.
As a result, Millsaps has a rider above him in the standings for the first time this season. While it’s a narrow two-point deficit, the rider that stands between Millsaps and the championship lead is Villopoto, who thrives on being the guy to beat and is beginning to hit his stride.
With seven races still remaining, there is a lot of racing left and this championship is nowhere close to being over. Villopoto’s program does indeed look to be dialed in right now, but that was the case for Millsaps just a few weeks ago as well. Something a little as a bad start could have drastic results in the big picture -- just ask Villopoto, who did all he could to overcome a bad start at Anaheim 1 only to find himself on the ground on two occasions.
'Brutal', 'grueling', and 'unlike anything else' they’ll see all year -- those are just some of the ways riders describe the one-of-a-kind Daytona Supercross, which resembles a motocross race in the middle of the Supercross campaign.
Traditionally, Daytona is the toughest test the riders will face all season long. Whether rain or clear skies, its unique combination of a natural soil and traditional Supercross obstacles means it always deteriorates, and that, combined with its lengthy lap times, can lead to some of the most dramatic swings in any given championship.
While the rain stayed away this year, Daytona still provided the most championship-altering night of the 2013 season. Over the past month, Ryan Villopoto has been on a mission to officially recover from the 16th-place finish that kicked off his second title defense. He’s won three of the past four races and, after registering arguably the most dominant performance of the season thus far, is back on top of the championship standings.
While Villopoto’s victory wasn’t a surprise, as evidenced by his recent surge, the difficulties that former championship leader Davi Millsaps suffered in Daytona has garnered equal attention. Throughout the first eight weeks of the season, it appeared as though Millsaps could do no wrong. He pulled great starts and he was almost a lock to finish on the podium. However, when the series hit St. Louis, things began to change.
In the two weeks prior to St. Louis, Millsaps battled through illness that kept him off the bike during the week, and somewhat limited his ultimate potential on Saturday nights. Nevertheless, he still battled to finish on the podium and looked well on his way to control the standings for the foreseeable future. However, St. Louis saw Millsaps’ worst start of the season and forced him to go bar-to-bar alongside the deeply talented field of competitors who were all racing with the same objective to rise to the front. It was a physical night for Millsaps, but he emerged with a solid sixth-place effort. Despite the hard-earned result, he still lost a 10-point chunk in his lead and suffered a contusion to his elbow.
The soreness lingered and Millsaps crashed in preparation for Daytona, reportedly leaving him with a banged up knee. That appeared to carry over into last Saturday’s main event where Millsaps once again got a bad start, and simply didn’t have the firepower to work through the field. No doubt, the rough Daytona conditions combined with his physical ailments prevented Millsaps from being where he wanted to be and he had to settle for a season's worst 10th-place finish.
As a result, Millsaps has a rider above him in the standings for the first time this season. While it’s a narrow two-point deficit, the rider that stands between Millsaps and the championship lead is Villopoto, who thrives on being the guy to beat and is beginning to hit his stride.
With seven races still remaining, there is a lot of racing left and this championship is nowhere close to being over. Villopoto’s program does indeed look to be dialed in right now, but that was the case for Millsaps just a few weeks ago as well. Something a little as a bad start could have drastic results in the big picture -- just ask Villopoto, who did all he could to overcome a bad start at Anaheim 1 only to find himself on the ground on two occasions.
SX Seattle
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