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Supercross & Motocross
SX: The Holeshot - Indy
Despite the best efforts of Ryan Dungey, Davi Millsaps, and co. Ryan Villopoto is blazing the path to a third-consecutive title.
Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 12 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship from Toronto, Canada will air LIVE on SPEED on Saturday, March 16th at 7:30pm ET.
There was no better way for Ryan Villopoto to cement his newly-earned position as the Monster Energy Supercross points leader than go out and win again the following week.
And that’s precisely what Ryan Villopoto did Saturday night in Indianapolis, extending his win streak to three while marking up a fourth consecutive season of at least six main event victories. Oh, and he also added seven points to his title lead in the process.
Now with four straight victories inside Lucas Oil Stadium, I think it's safe to say that Villopoto owns Indy and it really was all about minimizing the damage for his closest contenders.
While the win only added to the incredible wave of momentum that Villopoto has been riding for the past several weeks, it wasn’t an easy victory for the champ. If not for a mistake by James Stewart that literally stalled him out of the lead in the early stages of the Main, Villopoto would have had a much tougher task ahead of him.
And once he did assume the lead, Villopoto had to withstand the pressure of Ryan Dungey, who looked game to make things interesting in the end but ultimately bobbled just enough on the final lap to give RV1 a bit of breathing space.
It was a hard-earned victory that didn’t allow for anything but Villopoto’s absolute best, which not only showed he’s fully prepared to take on any challenge, but also suggested that the racing is going to get even more competitive over the final six races.
After a couple of rough weeks, Davi Millsaps was almost back to his early-season form in Indy. There’s still some soreness in the knee he tweaked and the time off the bike during the week has hurt his ability to keep pace with the leaders. Millsaps also confirmed that he got arm pump after battling Villopoto and Dungey, but he’s optimistic that he can resume his training routine and get back to the level that helped him lead the first nine rounds of the championship. All things considered, to be only nine points back after the troubles Millsaps has had to endure is pretty good, but gaining those points back on arguably the toughest rider in the field will be far from easy.
We've been waiting to see Dungey ride at this level for a while now. Sure, he has a win and he’s been the consistent rider we’ve all come to expect, but over the last couple weeks the former champ has risen to the occasion and put forth some incredible efforts. A lot of the new technology introduced for the 2013 season had KTM scratching its head at times and Dungey did not feel all that comfortable on the track. Now it looks like things are coming together and it couldn’t be a better time. Dungey is 17 points back from his longtime rival, so it’s likely going to require some big outings, including a few wins, to have a real chance come Vegas.
Sitting seventh in the standings and 67 points out of the lead, James Stewart isn’t likely going to be a threat to Villopoto as the season winds down. However, it does look as though the Suzuki rider will play a role in this developing title fight. About the same time that Villopoto began to pick up the pace, so did Stewart. Since then, he’s been a fixture at the front of the field and a weekly threat to take a win. That means there are highly valuable points potentially being lost by any one of the three title contenders should they finish behind Stewart. And that's exactly what happened to Millsaps last weekend in Indy; he lost a podium result and dropped seven points to Villopoto instead of five. Those points are going to matter in the end and Stewart will be spoiler for the rest of the season.
I really thought we would have seen Chad Reed grab a win by now, but things just haven’t gone the veteran’s way this season. Even when he’s fast enough to compete out front, he hasn’t got the start he needs and is at a considerable deficit before the race has even begun. The speed is there for Reed, but he hasn’t had the chance to really show it yet. If he’s able to get out front early, perhaps the winless streak will come to an end. Reedy hasn’t stood atop the podium since Los Angeles last season and even though he missed the majority of the year to injury that was still an astonishing 25 races ago.
Villopoto just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. For the first time this season he’s in control, which I think plays to his advantage. He’s used to having a target on his back and the weight of the red number plate. It's as though it generates an even deeper drive to make sure no one takes away what he believes is his. He has developed a killer instinct that has enabled him to take back-to-back titles and now has him sitting fourth on the all-time wins list with 30 career victories.
There was no better way for Ryan Villopoto to cement his newly-earned position as the Monster Energy Supercross points leader than go out and win again the following week.
And that’s precisely what Ryan Villopoto did Saturday night in Indianapolis, extending his win streak to three while marking up a fourth consecutive season of at least six main event victories. Oh, and he also added seven points to his title lead in the process.
Now with four straight victories inside Lucas Oil Stadium, I think it's safe to say that Villopoto owns Indy and it really was all about minimizing the damage for his closest contenders.
While the win only added to the incredible wave of momentum that Villopoto has been riding for the past several weeks, it wasn’t an easy victory for the champ. If not for a mistake by James Stewart that literally stalled him out of the lead in the early stages of the Main, Villopoto would have had a much tougher task ahead of him.
And once he did assume the lead, Villopoto had to withstand the pressure of Ryan Dungey, who looked game to make things interesting in the end but ultimately bobbled just enough on the final lap to give RV1 a bit of breathing space.
It was a hard-earned victory that didn’t allow for anything but Villopoto’s absolute best, which not only showed he’s fully prepared to take on any challenge, but also suggested that the racing is going to get even more competitive over the final six races.
After a couple of rough weeks, Davi Millsaps was almost back to his early-season form in Indy. There’s still some soreness in the knee he tweaked and the time off the bike during the week has hurt his ability to keep pace with the leaders. Millsaps also confirmed that he got arm pump after battling Villopoto and Dungey, but he’s optimistic that he can resume his training routine and get back to the level that helped him lead the first nine rounds of the championship. All things considered, to be only nine points back after the troubles Millsaps has had to endure is pretty good, but gaining those points back on arguably the toughest rider in the field will be far from easy.
We've been waiting to see Dungey ride at this level for a while now. Sure, he has a win and he’s been the consistent rider we’ve all come to expect, but over the last couple weeks the former champ has risen to the occasion and put forth some incredible efforts. A lot of the new technology introduced for the 2013 season had KTM scratching its head at times and Dungey did not feel all that comfortable on the track. Now it looks like things are coming together and it couldn’t be a better time. Dungey is 17 points back from his longtime rival, so it’s likely going to require some big outings, including a few wins, to have a real chance come Vegas.
Sitting seventh in the standings and 67 points out of the lead, James Stewart isn’t likely going to be a threat to Villopoto as the season winds down. However, it does look as though the Suzuki rider will play a role in this developing title fight. About the same time that Villopoto began to pick up the pace, so did Stewart. Since then, he’s been a fixture at the front of the field and a weekly threat to take a win. That means there are highly valuable points potentially being lost by any one of the three title contenders should they finish behind Stewart. And that's exactly what happened to Millsaps last weekend in Indy; he lost a podium result and dropped seven points to Villopoto instead of five. Those points are going to matter in the end and Stewart will be spoiler for the rest of the season.
I really thought we would have seen Chad Reed grab a win by now, but things just haven’t gone the veteran’s way this season. Even when he’s fast enough to compete out front, he hasn’t got the start he needs and is at a considerable deficit before the race has even begun. The speed is there for Reed, but he hasn’t had the chance to really show it yet. If he’s able to get out front early, perhaps the winless streak will come to an end. Reedy hasn’t stood atop the podium since Los Angeles last season and even though he missed the majority of the year to injury that was still an astonishing 25 races ago.
Villopoto just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. For the first time this season he’s in control, which I think plays to his advantage. He’s used to having a target on his back and the weight of the red number plate. It's as though it generates an even deeper drive to make sure no one takes away what he believes is his. He has developed a killer instinct that has enabled him to take back-to-back titles and now has him sitting fourth on the all-time wins list with 30 career victories.
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