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AMA Supercross report - Villopoto and Pourcel shine
News Monday 12th April 2010 By Sam Griebenow
With fast lap times, some of the largest whoops we’ve seen all season, and the quad turned “Monster Triple,” Houston provided some epic racing and proved to be a pivotal point in both the Lites East Coast and Supercross Class championships. Would Reed and Shorty play the spoiler role in the Supercross Class championship chase? With the absence of Stroupe, would Pourcel be able to seal the deal in the Lites class? Read on to find out…
Lites Qualifying
When the gate dropped for the first qualifier of the night, Geico Powersport’s Justin Barcia pulled a massive holeshot and attempted to gap the rest of the field early on. With good starts, Martin Davalos and Blake Bagget—in second and third—began to separate themselves from the rest of the field in attempt to track down a quickly disappearing Barcia. Midway through the heat race, Barcia made a small bobble causing him to go down, relinquishing the lead to Davalos—a lead that he would hold on to until the checkered flag. Baggett, who continued to follow behind Davalos as he had through the entire race, crossed the finish line in second with Barcia nipping at his heals in third after making a quick recovery from his crash.
Michael Willard grabbed the holeshot in the second heat race followed closely by Christophe Pourcel and Ryan Sipes. On lap two, Pourcel slid by Willard to grab the lead, and from there never looked back. Sipes also got around Willard and kept Pourcel honest to the end, but had to be content with second place. After getting a mid-pack start, Brett Metcalfe put in a hard charge only to come up just two feet short of third placed James Decotis.
In the Last Chance Qualifier, Kyle Cunningham worked his way from fifth to first, securing his spot in the main event. Troy Adams, who was running fourth, nabbed the last spot in the main when he became the beneficiary of third place rider Tevin Tapia getting into second place rider Kyle Kilbarger—bringing both riders down in the last corner.
The gates dropped and the 250’s roared to life as the riders rocketed down the start straight to the first turn. It was Blake Baggett who crossed the line first, but his lead was short lived, as Pourcel wasted no time moving into the lead during the opening moments of the race. Behind Pourcel, a three-rider battle brewed for second place. Amateur rivals Baggett, Dean Wilson, and Justin Barcia all charged hard, vying for the second step on the box—going three riders wide in the turn after the tricky tabletop section. On the final lap, all three riders entered the final whoop section within the same second. Dean Wilson looked to have a pass made on Baggett through the whoops, but made a mistake and was kicked over the bars. Baggett was able hold on to second with Barcia coming in a close third. Wilson, however, went from third to ninth, and only twenty feet from the finish line, was still kicking his bike after everyone had finished. Behind the three-way battle for second, Brett Metcalfe and Martin Davalos quietly put in solid rides finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
Supercross Qualifying
In the Supercross class, Davi Millsaps grabbed the holeshot and an early lead in heat one with Andrew Short and Josh Hill close in tow. Just a little further back, Justin Brayton, Ryan Villopoto, and Kevin Windham all jockeyed over fifth just behind Kawasaki-mounted Manuel Rivas. Windham made quick work of the number 23 and set his eyes further forward. K-Dub worked his way past Hill, Rivas, and eventually past Short where he would finish second, just behind Millsaps who led the race wire-to-wire. Ryan Villopoto’s race didn’t go as smoothly, however, as he stalled his bike in the first turn and finally got it going after dropping back to ninth place. Ryan mounted a late charge and eventually worked his way up to fifth, right behind Short and Hill who finished third and fourth respectively.
When the gate hit the dirt for the second heat, Ryan Dungey grabbed the holeshot and never looked back. Behind Dungey, Ivan Tedesco found himself in second with Chad Reed breathing down his neck. Tedesco rode a very wide bike and managed to keep Reed at bay until Chad appeared to encounter bike problems. Reed’s problems dropped him off the back of Tedesco’s tire and into striking range for Tommy Hahn. Though riding strong, Hahn was never able to pull the trigger and make a pass on Reed. Jason Lawrence put in a strong, but quiet ride and crossed the finish line a respectable fifth.
After putting in solid practice times, Kyle Chisholm had some bad luck in his heat race and had to earn his spot in the main event through the Last Chance Qualifier. Kyle Regal was able to secure the final transfer spot, making a clean “Kyle” sweep of the LCQ.
Supercross Main Event
The flames lit and the gates dropped for the 450 class in Reliant Stadium, and Ryan Villopoto snagged the Spike Holeshot just in front of Josh Hill, Ryan Dungey, and Kevin Windham. Reed was unable to replicate his heat race start and found himself deep within the pack outside of the top ten. Up front, Windham was a man on a mission and methodically worked his way past Dungey and Hill in hopes of catching Villopoto who was quickly sprinting away from the field. Tedesco, who had been fast all day began to pressure Dungey for third and made a pass stick on the fourth lap. The duo battled past Hill with Dungey refusing to let Tedesco go. Just as Dungey had Tedesco back in his sights, he stalled his bike on the Dragon’s back, allowing Tedesco some breathing room on his way to third. Once restarted, Dungey found himself back in seventh with his points lead dwindling. He was able to salvage a solid fifth place, but gave up valuable championship points to the winner, Villopoto. Unable to make up enough ground on RV, Windham settled in for a season best second. Chad Reed sliced his way through the pack after his bad start and managed to claw his way all the way up to fourth, missing the podium in Houston for the first time in his career.
AMA Supercross Class Results
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
2. Kevin Windham (Hon)
3. Ivan Tedesco (Yam)
4. Chad Reed (Kaw)
5. Ryan Dungey (Suz)
6. Tommy Hahn (Suz)
7. Davi Millsaps (Hon)
8. Andrew Short (Hon)
9. Justin Brayton (Yam)
10. Josh Hill (Yam)
AMA Supercross Season Standings
1. Ryan Dungey (277)
2. Ryan Villopoto (265)
3. Josh Hill (217)
4. Davi Millsaps (203)
5. Kevin Windham (201)
6. Ivan Tedesco (179)
7. Justin Brayton (176)
8. Nick Wey (141)
9. Tommy Hahn (128)
10. Kyle Chisholm (123)
Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Results
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw)
2. Blake Baggett (Suz)
3. Justin Barcia (Hon)
4. Brett Metcalfe (Hon)
5. Martin Davalos (Yam)
6. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)
7. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
8. James Decotis (Kaw)
9. Dean Wilson (Kaw)
10. Troy Adams (Suz)
Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites Class Season Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel (159/5 wins)
2. Austin Stroupe (126)
3. Justin Barcia (122/1 win)
4. Brett Metcalfe (113)
5. Blake Baggett (102/1 win)
6. Ryan Sipes (91)
7. Dean Wilson (83)
8. Kyle Cunningham (69)
9. Martin Davalos (65)
10. Troy Adams (58)
Stanley Leroux Design
