The results from round two of Monster Energy Supercross from Phoenix could look predictable in a way, since Ryan Villopoto completely and totally reminded the field that he's the boss of this sport. And Jason Anderson again used a last-lap pass to steal the 250SX West win from Cole Seely. But beneath all that laid a pair of nail-biting main events that still leave some heads scratching as we head back to California for round three next weekend. Here's how it looked from the desert tonight.
Photos by Simon Cudby
Here's your first surprise--Justin Brayton (10) wrestles the early lead away from Matt Moss (102 in the yellow and blue gear) and immediately starts opening a gap. The KTM riders Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen were there, but a ton of favorites were way back.
The mid-pack guys included Villopoto and James Stewart. RV was about tenth early and slowly went to work, taking the measure of Stewart as he came through.
For a moment, early, Justin Barcia looked like the man to beat, and he sliced up to second and started working on Brayton. Then, suddenly, the Muscle Milk Honda rider started making mistakes and going backwards.
Once Barcia dropped back it was Red Bull KTM rider Dungey's turn to take second and make a run at Brayton. But the JGR/Toyota Yamaha rider up front wasn't giving up any ground.
The pack started battling something fierce from about second through fifth. In the battle, Villopoto slipped through to third, then Stewart and Barcia hooked up, and Barcia cut across the front wheel of...
...last week's winner, Ken Roczen. Kenny went down and said he'll be looking for revenge on Barcia soon. He finished sixth.
Showing no mercy once up to speed, Villopoto passed Dungey for second and then went after Brayton.
He made the pass through a short rhythm lane, but...
...Brayton had impressive whoop speed and was able to show RV a wheel. Villopoto pulled a small gap but made a mistake late, letting Brayton close right back to him on the last lap. He pulled alongside the champ in the whoops and showed him a wheel again with a half lap to go!
Villopoto took the win on his Monster Energy Kawasaki, Brayton was second. Dungey got held up by a lapper and couldn't triple a rhythm lane with three laps to go, and couldn't quite climb back into the battle. He finished third.
In the 250s, Yamalube Star Yamaha rider Cooper Webb snagged the holie. But notice Anderson (17) and Seely (21) right there ready to battle.
Once again, Lucas Oil/TLD Honda's Seely got around Anderson and Anderson gave chase while they pulled away from the field. It was exactly like Anaheim 1.
Dean Wilson was fourth early behind Shane McElrath but made some mistakes trying to make the pass. Soon, Anderson and Seely got away. Then McElrath got run into by Webb, resulting in both riders hitting the ground. Zach Osborne (16) got past them to give chase to Wilson for third.
Incredibly, on the last lap Anderson again struck on Seely, finding a better line, getting to the inside and making the pass--it wasn't quite as aggressive as last week's Anaheim move, but it got the job done.
Anderson has back-to-back wins to open the season on his Rockstar KTM.
Another solid run by Osborne on the GEICO Honda, who got around Wilson for third.