Sign of the Lap Times: Atlanta

When Chad Reed announced last week that a torn ACL and other injuries would keep him from contesting the remainder of the 2012 SX season, and possible the outdoor season as well, many were expecting the once five-man army of Monster Energy Supercross Championship contenders to dwindle to one. But Ryan Dungey had other ideas in Atlanta. He held off a furious charge from Ryan Villopoto to capture his second win of the season and cut Villopoto’s points lead to ten.

In the Lites class, the boys showed a little more respect for each other than they did in Dallas, but the results remained the same as Justin Barcia took home his second win of the season. Blake Baggett rebounded nicely from a disastrous opening round to finish second with rookie Justin Bogle capturing his first career podium with a third.

Now onto the lap charts to see how it all broke down.

After a two-week hiatus, Ryan Villopoto reclaimed the throne of “King of the Lap Charts” with a scorching 50.713 on lap 12, which helped him reel in Ryan Dungey. Late mistakes would cost RV the win, but he reined King of the Charts in the ATL.

Although Ryan Dungey didn’t set the fastest lap of the night, he did put down a blistering 51.257 on the final lap, yes the FINAL lap, to hold off the advances of a hard charging RV. While Dungey wasn’t in a must-win situation, yet, this win did provide Dungey with a fist full of confidence heading into St. Louis.

When Cole Seely was announced as a replacement rider for an injured Trey Canard, many were expecting a couple of top ten finishes before heading back to the West Region Lites series. But Seely dug into his bag of tricks and snagged a holeshot. Seely would go onto to hold Dungey at bay for seven laps before giving way and dropping back to sixth before the night was over. It was a breakout SX class ride for Seely and one many around the industry took notice of.

Villopoto would set the fastest lap of the night, but Dungey walked away with the win.
Photo: Simon Cudby

AMA Supercross Lites

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	52.125	2	53.543	Justin Barcia
2	2	52.172	5	53.567	Blake Baggett
3	4	52.404	4	54.149	Blake Wharton
4	6	52.450	10	53.867	Ken Roczen
5	3	52.510	7	53.888	Justin Bogle
6	5	53.055	6	54.453	Darryn Durham
7	7	53.532	7	56.244	Kyle Cunningham
8	13	54.778	6	57.199	Matt Lemoine
9	9	54.945	3	55.959	Jake Canada
10	11	54.958	3	57.584	Lance Vincent
11	12	55.345	7	57.500	PJ Larsen
12	8	55.399	4	56.582	Hunter Hewitt
13	10	56.116	3	57.167	Shane Sewell
14	14	56.135	5	57.777	Les Smith
15	16	56.456	3	58.958	Levi Kilbarger
16	15	56.617	7	58.084	Shawn Rife
17	19	56.693	4	1:01.268	Austin Politelli
18	17	57.533	3	1:00.098	Daniel Herrlein
19	18	58.503	6	1:00.792	Angelo Pellegrini
20	20	58.991	2	1:03.874	Brad Ripple

GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia continues to show a newfound sense of control on the track and it showed in Atlanta, as he captured his second straight victory at his home away from home race. Although he had Blake Baggett nipping at his heels he also set the fastest lap of the night in the Lites class with a 52.125, edging out Baggett’s 52.172.

Interesting stat of the week: While the East Region may not stack up depth wise with the West; the top contenders are all very close in speed, with the top five finishers in the Lites class all putting down their fastest lap times in the 52-second range.  So while Barcia may be setting the pace early, don’t count out the host of contenders that are laying in wait.

Barcia would top the charts in the Lites class en route to his second straight win.
Photo: Simon Cudby