The questions remained though, would Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto be able to re-establish himself as the man after his last-to-fifth ride last week in Daytona? Would JGR Yamaha’s James Stewart be able to keep his momentum that he gained from winning last week? Would anyone at all be able to beat GEICO Honda’s Justin Barcia who is four for four this season in the Lites class?
Returning to action this week was Jeff Ward Racing’s Josh Grant and joining the Hart & Huntington team was privateer Kyle Regal as a fill-in for injured rider Kyle Partridge.
The riders went through three sets of practices, two that were timed, and standing on the top of the box going into tonight in the Supercross class was Villopoto who eked out a faster time than Stewart in a track where the second timed practices stood as the fast ones for most riders. They were also the only two riders able to get their times into the 51-second range. After that was Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Brayton who was third and veteran Kevin Windham of the GEICO Honda team. Getting his best qualifying time of the year was Jeff Ward Racing’s Kyle Chisholm who was fifth fastest.
Hart & Huntington Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen tweeked a knee in practice and his status for tonight is unknown as he didn’t participate in the third practice but did end up making the show with the 29th best qualifying time.
1 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki KX450F 51.537
2 7 James Stewart Yamaha YZ450F 51.637
3 10 Justin Brayton Honda CRF450 52.327
4 14 Kevin Windham Honda CRF450 52.469
5 11 Kyle Chisholm Kawasaki KX450F 52.679
6 38 Marvin Musquin KTM 350 SX-F 52.707
7 18 David Millsaps Yamaha YZ450F 52.747
8 24 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki RM-Z450 52.787
9 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RM-Z450 53.046
10 25 Broc Tickle Kawasaki KX450F 53.207
11 21 Jake Weimer Kawasaki KX450F 53.319
12 48 Jimmy Albertson Suzuki RM-Z450 53.560
13 33 Joshua Grant Kawasaki KX450F 53.573
14 50 Nico Izzi Yamaha YZ450F 53.599
15 617 Gavin Faith Honda CRF450R 53.820
In the Lites class it was much like the Supercross class where the third practices were faster than the second ones because of track work and straightening out the tabletop section. Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen was the fastest man in the second set of practices and for a long time, the German speedster was on top of the board in the final practice with a 52.66. But not long before it ended, Barcia snuck in there with a time (52.63) that was three thousandths quicker than the KTM kid. Barcia’s teammate Justin Bogle was third and also in the 52’s with a 52.87
After that it was Star Racing Yamaha’s Kyle Cunningham, Rockstar Suzuki’s Blake Wharton and Motoconcepts Racing’s Jake Canada in sixth.
1 1 Justin Barcia Honda CRF250 52.639
2 70 Ken Roczen KTM 250 SX-F 52.669
3 49 Justin Bogle Honda CRF250 52.877
4 19 Kyle Cunningham Yamaha YZ250F 53.123
5 956 Blake Wharton Suzuki RM-Z250 53.374
6 57 Jake Canada Honda CRF250 53.412
7 37 Malcolm Stewart KTM 250 SX-F 53.614
8 74 Tyler Bowers Kawasaki KX250F 53.703
9 60 Matthew Lemoine Kawasaki KX250F 53.722
10 35 Darryn Durham Kawasaki KX250F 54.036
11 46 Les Smith KTM 250 SX-F 54.345
12 12 Blake Baggett Kawasaki KX250F 54.393
13 30 Alex Martin Honda CRF250 54.605
14 981 Austin Politelli Honda CRF250 54.869
15 927 P Larsen KTM 250 SX-F 54.870