San Diego Race Report
February 7, 2010 2:24am | by: Jason Weigandt
The already-unpredictable Monster Energy AMA Supercross an FIM World Championship tour took another wild turn on a rainy night in San Diego, California, as Honda Red Bull Racing’s Davi Millsaps romped to his first win of the season, and first since 2008.
Behind Millsaps chaos ensued for some of the top championship contenders, with Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey crashing in the first turn and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto ending up down with him in the carnage. Villopoto rallied back for fourth with Dungey sixth. San Manuel Yamaha’s Josh Hill took advantage to finish second, closing within four points of Dungey in the series. Vali Motorsports Ivan Tedesco took third.
In Lites action, Jake Weimer outlasted his hard-charging competition to win again on his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, ahead of Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Honda teammates Cole Seely and Wil Hahn, who were second and third, respectively.
For the third-straight race, rain attempted to turn the event into a mudbath, and this time the rain came at the worst time. When the track crew pulled the plastic tarps off the track at 4 p.m., the rain came minutes later. Then it rained again between the Lites main event and the Supercross class main, but somehow the track held up and the riders could jump most of the obstacles.
Dungey and Hill topped the heat races, and then Dungey pulled another great start in the main. But he washed out in the slippery first turn and went down, with Villopoto and Rockstar Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn going down with him. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Nick Wey took advantage to grab the Spike Energy Holeshot Award right after Dungey fell, and he led the first lap. Then Millsaps struck to grab the lead, followed soon by his teammate Andrew Short, Hill, Tedesco and GEICO Honda’s Kevin Windham.
That lead pack of five went back and forth for 20 laps, the rutted track causing mistakes, which in turn caused the riders to go back and forth. At one point Millsaps pulled a three-second gap on Short, then Short closed back in, and then Millsaps pulled back ahead. Millsaps gained time by jumping a massive double over the width of the start straight. Then Short crashed hard late in the race, and unfortunately had to be helped off the track by the Asterisk medic crew, no word on his injuries, yet. Then Windham came to a halt with mechanical problems.
This led to a Hill versus Tedesco battle for second, which Hill eventually won. Hill said he made mistake early and decided to ride conservatively to make sure he logged a consistent finish. Tedesco was happy to get his starts dialed in for the first time this year. And Millsaps is a different rider after getting away from supplements that contained creatine.
Villopoto put in a strong charge for fourth, closing within ten points of Dungey with third in the standings. Muscle Milk/Toyota Yamaha’s Justin Brayton took fifth ahead of Dungey and Rockstar Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn, who shadowed Dungey most of the night.
In Lites, Trey Canard had a bad gate pick due to a bad start and finish in his heat race, but he got a great jump off the gate and nailed the Spike Holeshot. Weimer was there applying pressure early, and then made a pass. Canard tried to knife back underneath in a turn and lost his front end, sending him down. Then he fell again when he was hit by another rider trying to get up.
Weimer looked ready to cruise to a win, but Star Racing DNA Shred Stix’s Max Anstie was logging the best ride of his young career, keeping up with Weimer and even closing at times. Anstie won an early battle with Seely and kept the heat on Weimer the whole race. Seely was caught late by his teammate Wil Hahn, and as the two battled for third on the last lap, Anstie suddenly fell and dropped to fourth. Seely and Hahn went back and forth before Seely held on for second, just edging his teammate at the finish.
Check out SPEED’S coverage of the event with two-straight hours of supercross starting at 9 a.m. Pacific. And check for results here in Racer X Online later tonight, and we'll add more photos to this race report, as well.
Behind Millsaps chaos ensued for some of the top championship contenders, with Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey crashing in the first turn and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto ending up down with him in the carnage. Villopoto rallied back for fourth with Dungey sixth. San Manuel Yamaha’s Josh Hill took advantage to finish second, closing within four points of Dungey in the series. Vali Motorsports Ivan Tedesco took third.
In Lites action, Jake Weimer outlasted his hard-charging competition to win again on his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki, ahead of Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Honda teammates Cole Seely and Wil Hahn, who were second and third, respectively.
For the third-straight race, rain attempted to turn the event into a mudbath, and this time the rain came at the worst time. When the track crew pulled the plastic tarps off the track at 4 p.m., the rain came minutes later. Then it rained again between the Lites main event and the Supercross class main, but somehow the track held up and the riders could jump most of the obstacles.
Dungey and Hill topped the heat races, and then Dungey pulled another great start in the main. But he washed out in the slippery first turn and went down, with Villopoto and Rockstar Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn going down with him. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Nick Wey took advantage to grab the Spike Energy Holeshot Award right after Dungey fell, and he led the first lap. Then Millsaps struck to grab the lead, followed soon by his teammate Andrew Short, Hill, Tedesco and GEICO Honda’s Kevin Windham.
That lead pack of five went back and forth for 20 laps, the rutted track causing mistakes, which in turn caused the riders to go back and forth. At one point Millsaps pulled a three-second gap on Short, then Short closed back in, and then Millsaps pulled back ahead. Millsaps gained time by jumping a massive double over the width of the start straight. Then Short crashed hard late in the race, and unfortunately had to be helped off the track by the Asterisk medic crew, no word on his injuries, yet. Then Windham came to a halt with mechanical problems.
This led to a Hill versus Tedesco battle for second, which Hill eventually won. Hill said he made mistake early and decided to ride conservatively to make sure he logged a consistent finish. Tedesco was happy to get his starts dialed in for the first time this year. And Millsaps is a different rider after getting away from supplements that contained creatine.
Villopoto put in a strong charge for fourth, closing within ten points of Dungey with third in the standings. Muscle Milk/Toyota Yamaha’s Justin Brayton took fifth ahead of Dungey and Rockstar Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn, who shadowed Dungey most of the night.
In Lites, Trey Canard had a bad gate pick due to a bad start and finish in his heat race, but he got a great jump off the gate and nailed the Spike Holeshot. Weimer was there applying pressure early, and then made a pass. Canard tried to knife back underneath in a turn and lost his front end, sending him down. Then he fell again when he was hit by another rider trying to get up.
Weimer looked ready to cruise to a win, but Star Racing DNA Shred Stix’s Max Anstie was logging the best ride of his young career, keeping up with Weimer and even closing at times. Anstie won an early battle with Seely and kept the heat on Weimer the whole race. Seely was caught late by his teammate Wil Hahn, and as the two battled for third on the last lap, Anstie suddenly fell and dropped to fourth. Seely and Hahn went back and forth before Seely held on for second, just edging his teammate at the finish.
Check out SPEED’S coverage of the event with two-straight hours of supercross starting at 9 a.m. Pacific. And check for results here in Racer X Online later tonight, and we'll add more photos to this race report, as well.