Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto, of Poulsbo,
Wash., raced to his second-consecutive Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM
World Championship, 450SX Class Main Event win at O.co Coliseum before a record
crowd of 46,896. Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, of Germany, won his first Western
Regional 250SX Class race of the season, snapping Eli Tomac’s three-race win
streak.
Villopoto jumped out to an early
lead, scoring the Nuclear Cowboyz® Holeshot Award.
JGRMX/Toyota/Yamaha’s Justin Brayton, of Cornelius, N.C., and Rockstar Energy
Racing’s Davi Millsaps, of Murrieta, Calif., followed Villopoto in second and
third, respectively. A huge crash in turn two collected TwoTwo Motorsports’
Chad Reed, Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart and Team Honda/Muscle Milk’s Justin
Barcia. Stewart and Reed re-entered the race near the back of the pack and
Barcia was forced to withdraw from the race.
By Lap 3, Villopoto established a
7-second lead over Millsaps, who passed Brayton for the number-two position on
the same lap. Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, of Belle Plaine, Minn., passed
Brayton for second place on Lap 11. Millsaps finished second and Dungey
finished third.
“The points race is what we are
going after, and winning the holeshot gives you a great advantage,” said
Villopoto. “We made some changes to the bike today that I think really helped
us out there tonight, so hats off to my team. It is a long season, and we are
going to keep plugging away.”
JDR KTM’s Joey Savatgy, of
Thomasville, Ga., opened the Western Regional 250SX Class Main Event with the
Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award, leading Roczen and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas
Oil/Honda’s Cole Seely, of Newbury Park, Calif., respectively, through turn
one. On the opening lap, Seely passed Savatgy for the lead and Roczen followed
suit, passing Savatgy for second place. Current points leader Eli Tomac, of
Cortez, Colo., crossed the finish line on the opening lap in eighth place.
Tomac, who rides for the GEICO
Honda team, crashed on Lap 1 and re-entered the race in 18th place.
On Lap 5, Tomac crashed again in the whoops section and was unable to finish
the race. Tomac came into night’s race undefeated and had a nine-point lead in
season point standings. He now sits third overall, 15 points out of the lead.
Roczen stalked Seely until Lap 11
when he made the pass for the lead. Seely finished second and Rockstar Energy
Racing’s Jason Anderson, of Edgewood, N.M., finished third. Roczen has an
11-point lead in season point standings over Seely.
“I am so happy with this win
tonight,” said Roczen. “There was a lot of bar banging on that opening lap, but
I charged hard and got out front. I am excited to bring this momentum back to
Angel Stadium next weekend.”
Tonight’s 450SX Class race will
air on CBS tomorrow at Noon ET and SPEED will air the 250SX Class race at 5:00
p.m. ET. Monster Energy Supercross will continue next Saturday night, February
2, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
450SX Class Results: Oakland
1. Ryan
Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki
2. Davi Millsaps,
Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki
3. Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
4. Trey
Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda
5. Mike
Alessi, Hilliard, Fla., Suzuki
6. Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda
7. Matt
Goerke, Lake Helen, Fla., KTM
8. Broc
Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki
9. Vince Friese,
Cape Girardeau, Mo., Honda
10. Justin
Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha
450SX Class Points
1. Davi
Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki – 85
2. Trey
Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda – 78
3. Ryan
Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki – 77
4. Ryan
Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM – 68
5. Chad
Reed, Australia, Honda – 65
6. Andrew
Short, Smithville, Texas, Honda – 56
7. Jake
Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki – 47
8. Justin
Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha - 42
9. Justin
Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda – 41
10. Matt
Goerke, Lake Helen, Fla., KTM – 39
Western Regional 250SX Class Results: Oakland
1. Ken
Roczen, Germany, KTM
2. Cole
Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda
3. Jason
Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Suzuki
4. Martin
Davalos, Ecuador, Kawasaki
5. Malcolm
Stewart, Haines City, Fla., KTM
6. Joey
Savatgy, Thomasville, N.M., KTM
7. Kyle
Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha
8. Austin
Politelli, Riverside, Calif., Honda
9. Christian
Craig, Wildomar, Calif., Honda
10. Zach
Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda
Western Regional 250SX Class Points
1. Ken
Roczen, Germany, KTM – 91
2. Cole
Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 80
3. Eli
Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 76
4. Zach
Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda – 58
5. Jason
Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Suzuki – 52
6. Kyle
Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha – 49
7. Martin
Davalos, Ecuador, Kawasaki – 48
8. Christian
Craig, Wildomar, Calif., Honda – 47
9. Malcolm
Stewart, Haines City, Fla., KTM – 45
10. Tyla
Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki – 45