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Supercross & Motocross
SX: Villopoto Celebrates Seventh Win
Ryan Villopoto took another step toward successfully defending his Monster Energy Supercross title with his seventh victory of the season last Saturday in Canada.
(Photo: Kawasaki Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Houston Round of the Monster Energy Supercross Lites Championship will air on SPEED Sunday, April 1 at 1:00pm ET. #SXonSPEED
Monster Energy AMA Supercross headed to the Great White North on Saturday night where Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto overcame a challenging track to take his seventh win of the season at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jake Weimer rode a strong main event to finish fifth despite jumping off the track and getting tangled with a lapped rider. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle finished inside the top-ten for the third straight week, taking eighth place. In the supercross lites main event, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham held a podium finish until losing the front end, dropping him to fifth. Teammate Blake Baggett battled from a poor start to finish 15th.
Unmatched Pace
After 12 rounds, the key to success this season has proven to be survival. With many of the top riders succumbing to injury, Villopoto has been able to stay strong and healthy, but that doesn’t mean he’s backing it down. In qualifying practice, the reigning champion ended up second, and was not happy about it. Striving for nothing but victory, Villopoto grabbed the early lead in the heat race and took the win. In the main event, he rounded the first corner in second and looked to get out front early and stay out of trouble. Villopoto made the pass for the lead, but would nearly throw it away in the deteriorating whoop section, getting out of control and nearly riding it out side-saddle.
“My starts were great all night,” said Villopoto. “I made a couple big mistakes in the whoops the first couple laps and almost threw it away. I felt really good on the rest of the track, but it took me a while to get the whoops sorted out. From here the plan is to keep going for wins and try to wrap this title up while we’re still in dome stadiums.”
Feel Good, Ride Good
After a couple of tough weeks, Weimer was ready to return to riding at his potential. He finished second behind his teammate in his heat race and felt confident going into the main. While running in a podium position for the first 12 laps of the main, Weimer chose the wrong line while lapping a rider and they came together, which dropped him to fourth. Still frustrated with what just happened, two corners later he misjudged one of the rhythm sections and jumped off the track. This dropped him to fifth which is where he finished the night.
“I had a really good week coming into Toronto,” said Weimer. “I felt awesome all day and had a great gate pick for the main. I snuck around the inside and made some passes to put me in third, but then ran into trouble. I know I should be on the podium and I’m riding better than I have been the last couple weeks.”
Chasing the Leader
In the Supercross Lights Eastern Region, Durham has demonstrated the speed to win the past few weeks, but has yet to make it to the top step of the box. His night started with a heat race win, which he was hoping to transition to the main. The first few laps of the main saw Durham battling back and forth for third until his front end washed out. After dropping back to ninth, Durham put on a hard charge and fought his way back up to fifth.
“The track was tough all day,” said Durham. “I got a sick holeshot in the heat race and won that, which felt really good. In the main I fell and had to come back through the pack to get fifth. The track was really soft and rutted, so I’m just happy to get out of there healthy and ready to go at it next week.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross headed to the Great White North on Saturday night where Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto overcame a challenging track to take his seventh win of the season at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jake Weimer rode a strong main event to finish fifth despite jumping off the track and getting tangled with a lapped rider. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Broc Tickle finished inside the top-ten for the third straight week, taking eighth place. In the supercross lites main event, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham held a podium finish until losing the front end, dropping him to fifth. Teammate Blake Baggett battled from a poor start to finish 15th.
Unmatched Pace
After 12 rounds, the key to success this season has proven to be survival. With many of the top riders succumbing to injury, Villopoto has been able to stay strong and healthy, but that doesn’t mean he’s backing it down. In qualifying practice, the reigning champion ended up second, and was not happy about it. Striving for nothing but victory, Villopoto grabbed the early lead in the heat race and took the win. In the main event, he rounded the first corner in second and looked to get out front early and stay out of trouble. Villopoto made the pass for the lead, but would nearly throw it away in the deteriorating whoop section, getting out of control and nearly riding it out side-saddle.
“My starts were great all night,” said Villopoto. “I made a couple big mistakes in the whoops the first couple laps and almost threw it away. I felt really good on the rest of the track, but it took me a while to get the whoops sorted out. From here the plan is to keep going for wins and try to wrap this title up while we’re still in dome stadiums.”
Feel Good, Ride Good
After a couple of tough weeks, Weimer was ready to return to riding at his potential. He finished second behind his teammate in his heat race and felt confident going into the main. While running in a podium position for the first 12 laps of the main, Weimer chose the wrong line while lapping a rider and they came together, which dropped him to fourth. Still frustrated with what just happened, two corners later he misjudged one of the rhythm sections and jumped off the track. This dropped him to fifth which is where he finished the night.
“I had a really good week coming into Toronto,” said Weimer. “I felt awesome all day and had a great gate pick for the main. I snuck around the inside and made some passes to put me in third, but then ran into trouble. I know I should be on the podium and I’m riding better than I have been the last couple weeks.”
Chasing the Leader
In the Supercross Lights Eastern Region, Durham has demonstrated the speed to win the past few weeks, but has yet to make it to the top step of the box. His night started with a heat race win, which he was hoping to transition to the main. The first few laps of the main saw Durham battling back and forth for third until his front end washed out. After dropping back to ninth, Durham put on a hard charge and fought his way back up to fifth.
“The track was tough all day,” said Durham. “I got a sick holeshot in the heat race and won that, which felt really good. In the main I fell and had to come back through the pack to get fifth. The track was really soft and rutted, so I’m just happy to get out of there healthy and ready to go at it next week.”
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