If everyone has their wish, this year’s epic battle for the Monster Energy Supercross Championship will come down to everyone’s best in a heads-up battle. And tonight at the penultimate round in Salt Lake City, we pretty much saw that, with the Big Four getting out front early, pushing the pace as hard as they could, and settling it in a battle. And at the end of that battle, one rider stood out front in both the race and the series.
James Stewart grabbed the early lead with Chad Reed right behind him, while Justin Brayton was third. Ryan Villopoto made a move on Brayton and then kicked his pace up to another level, chasing down Reed and making a pass in the whoops. Villopoto and Reed kept the heat on Stewart, all three were pushing the envelope hard, blowing up berms and straight-up going for it. Then Stewart washed out in a corner and Villopoto and Reed rode past. Moments later, Stewart crashed again—spectacularly—in the whoops. He had to stop in the mechanic’s area to straighten his bike out, which left Villopoto and Reed out front. Dungey was third, but not quite able to maintain the torrid pace out front.
Reed stayed within 2.5 seconds of Villopoto for most of the main, but then put in a huge push on the final laps to close in. Reed started blitzing the whoops to get close, but not close enough, as Villopoto held on to win by 1.3 seconds—as clutch a performance as you will ever see.
Villopoto now leads the standings over Reed by nine points heading into the Vegas finale.
In the Lites class, Eli Tomac got the early lead and was under immediate pressure from Josh Hansen. Hansen was running Tomac deep in the turns, and then tried a hard block pass at the beginning of the second lap. Tomac held strong, Hanny ran into him and fell, but Tomac kept it on two wheels. Hansen dropped to 17th in the crash.
Points leader Broc Tickle was second and chasing Tomac, but Ken Roczen made the move for second and held Tickle off to the finish. Tomac won it, chopping five points from Tickle’s lead, leaving him two points back going into the finale. Hanny finished 13th, putting him way back in points.
Look for a full race report, photos and analysis later right here on Racerxonline.com
James Stewart grabbed the early lead with Chad Reed right behind him, while Justin Brayton was third. Ryan Villopoto made a move on Brayton and then kicked his pace up to another level, chasing down Reed and making a pass in the whoops. Villopoto and Reed kept the heat on Stewart, all three were pushing the envelope hard, blowing up berms and straight-up going for it. Then Stewart washed out in a corner and Villopoto and Reed rode past. Moments later, Stewart crashed again—spectacularly—in the whoops. He had to stop in the mechanic’s area to straighten his bike out, which left Villopoto and Reed out front. Dungey was third, but not quite able to maintain the torrid pace out front.
Reed stayed within 2.5 seconds of Villopoto for most of the main, but then put in a huge push on the final laps to close in. Reed started blitzing the whoops to get close, but not close enough, as Villopoto held on to win by 1.3 seconds—as clutch a performance as you will ever see.
Villopoto now leads the standings over Reed by nine points heading into the Vegas finale.
In the Lites class, Eli Tomac got the early lead and was under immediate pressure from Josh Hansen. Hansen was running Tomac deep in the turns, and then tried a hard block pass at the beginning of the second lap. Tomac held strong, Hanny ran into him and fell, but Tomac kept it on two wheels. Hansen dropped to 17th in the crash.
Points leader Broc Tickle was second and chasing Tomac, but Ken Roczen made the move for second and held Tickle off to the finish. Tomac won it, chopping five points from Tickle’s lead, leaving him two points back going into the finale. Hanny finished 13th, putting him way back in points.
Look for a full race report, photos and analysis later right here on Racerxonline.com
