Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto’s Takes Over Pts. Lead

August 22, 2006, 6:04am

4-1 performance for 2nd place puts Villopoto up by 20 points in AMA
Lites overall points chase with two races remaining, also eyes
Monster/Kawasaki Triple Crown Lites title at Nationals’ next round
in Steel City (Pa.)

CARLSBAD, Calif., (Aug. 21, 2006) – With a solid come-from-behind 4th place finish in the first moto and a convincing 1st place overall win in the second moto, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto placed 2nd overall and took charge of the overall Lites class points lead at Binghamton (N.Y.) on Sunday.

The overall 43-point effort, coupled with a Mike Alessi DNF in the
first moto, gave Villopoto the overall points lead for the second
time this season.

“It’s too bad that Mike went down and his bike broke, but that’s
something I’ve had happen as well this summer,” said Villopoto,
who’s has more Lites class Nationals wins than anybody this season
(five to Alessi’s one). “I went from trailing by five points heading into Binghamton to leading by 20 points. So from here on in it’s just a matter of racing fast, staying out of trouble and putting up some more podium finishes up at Steel City and Glen Helen in order to win the title for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team.”

Also making a podium for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki was Troy Adams. The Floridian was on the box in the first moto (3rd) – his second moto podium finish of the year (3rd, first moto at Unadilla). Adams wasn’t able to keep the momentum going in the second moto, running into some problems on the third lap and finishing 21st for 10th overall.

As mentioned earlier, Villopoto – along with Monster Energy-backed
teammate Ricky Carmichael (Suzuki) – has an opportunity to cash in
at the next round of the Nationals, Steel City, during the final
installment of the Monster Energy/Kawasaki Triple Crown of Motocross. Villopoto won the first two rounds of the Monster/Kawi Triple Crown at High Point (Pa.) and RedBud (Mich.).

The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team returns to action in two weeks when the 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Championship tour stops at Delmont, Pa., (Sept. 3) for Round 11 of the 12-round series.