{LINKS}It was a surprising day at Steel City this past Saturday. Series champion Ryan Villopoto had only one thing left to do in his 250F career and that was to win the Monster Energy Triple Crown, something no 250F rider has managed to do since the money was put up two years ago. He has spoken of his desire to get the money the past few weeks and most of us probably thought he would reach his goal.
But that’s why they run the races. RV got off to a horrible start in moto one and while working though the pack he came up and around Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Nico Izzi. Only something weird happened after that; Nico squared him up and passed him back! There was a collision and the only thing more bent out of shape than the Villopoto camp was Villopoto’s gear shifter. A mid-moto pit stop and a second-lap crash spelled the end of the Monster money and a bitter farewell to the 250F class for RV.
Izzi was a revelation on the day; after losing a few spots in the first moto near the end to finish fifth, he moved up from eighth all the way into the second spot in the second moto. His catch and pass of hard charger Brett Metcalfe was very impressive and had to leave Izzi feeling good going into the off season.
However, the man feeling the best was Ryan Dungey as he went 1-1 and dominated the day. The Suzuki kid showed all of us that it was “Dungey Time” and established himself as the man to beat in ’09.
