Sign of the Lap Times: Phoenix

 

 

 

 

 

450SX Class

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	2	50.880	14	52.506	Ryan Villopoto
2	1	51.459	5	52.424	Justin Barcia
3	5	51.702	17	52.338	Trey Canard
4	3	52.114	13	53.001	Davi Millsaps
5	7	52.231	5	53.784	James Stewart
6	8	52.298	15	53.634	Ryan Dungey
7	4	52.341	6	53.049	Chad Reed
8	6	52.510	8	53.670	Jake Weimer
9	9	53.273	17	54.014	Andrew Short
10	15	53.401	15	54.084	Justin Brayton
11	10	53.438	8	54.473	Josh Grant
12	12	53.647	6	54.458	Broc Tickle
13	14	53.847	7	54.770	Weston Peick
14	20	53.875	17	55.200	Mike Alessi
15	11	53.915	11	54.648	Kevin Windham
16	13	53.942	6	54.791	Kyle Chisholm
17	16	54.005	12	55.019	Matt Lemoine
18	17	54.331	10	55.955	Matt Goerke
19	18	54.729	13	56.232	Vince Friese
20	19	54.797	5	56.422	Jimmy Albertson

450SX

- Ryan Villopoto set the fastest lap of the night with a 50.880 on lap 14. RV was the only rider in the field to have a lap in the 50-second range.

- Villopoto lead the field with seven laps 51-seconds or lower. Justin Barcia (6) and Trey Canard (3) were the only other riders to have laps under 52-seconds.

- Ryan Dungey, James Stewart, Chad Reed, Jake Weimer and Davi Millsaps all failed to break the 51-second mark.

- Only four riders in 450SX had lap times over one-minute: Jimmy Albertson (laps 2 & 19), Trey Canard (lap 20), Matt Goerke (laps 4 & 19) and Mike Alessi (lap 9).

- Andrew Short, Trey Canard and Mike Alessi tied for the latest fastest lap set in Phoenix. Canard topped the group with a 51.702 on lap 17. Short was second with a 53.273. Alessi was third with a 53.875.

- Only four riders achieved the feat of NOT having a single lap over the 54-second mark: James Stewart, Davi Millsaps, Chad Reed and Justin Barcia.

- Lap times, on average, were quicker in Phoenix than at the season opener in Anaheim. Davi Millsaps’ average lap time was 56.812 en route to winning last week. This week, Justin Barcia’s averaged a 52.424.

Comparison:

Ryan Villopoto vs. Trey Canard (laps 16-20)

A last lap blunder by Trey Canard cost the Honda rider the points lead, and his second consecutive second place finish to start the season. Ryan Villopoto was there to pick up the scraps, but the hunt for second had begun laps earlier. RV moved into third on lap 16 (first full lap in that position) and put in a charge, but Canard responded with a fast pace of his own. Villopoto was only able to shave tenths of a second off Canard’s lead until the final lap. Let’s take a look at a side-by-side comparison of how each rider fared down the stretch.

Disregarding Canard’s 1:07.027 last lap, the average for RV (laps 16-19) was a 51.803, with Canard right behind with a 51.854. Villopoto fired off three straight 51-second lap times (laps 17-19), but Canard matched him ever step of the way—even setting his fastest lap of the night (third fastest overall) on lap 17!

250SX Class

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	51.845	6	52.875	Eli Tomac
2	2	52.411	10	53.498	Ken Roczen
3	3	52.567	3	53.953	Martin Davalos
4	4	52.929	6	54.421	Cole Seely
5	8	53.384	5	54.466	Kyle Cunningham
6	7	53.511	9	54.692	Ryan Sipes
7	5	53.724	3	54.673	Jessy Nelson
8	11	53.744	13	54.850	Max Anstie
9	12	53.810	11	55.266	Tyla Rattray
10	6	53.833	12	54.591	Zach Osborne
11	18	53.866	5	56.089	Malcolm Stewart
12	20	53.981	3	55.703	Jake Canada
13	9	54.128	10	54.942	Joey Savatgy
14	10	54.179	14	54.869	Christian Craig
15	13	54.626	8	55.840	Austin Politelli
16	17	55.225	5	56.562	Michael Leib
17	19	55.617	3	55.850	Topher Ingalls
18	14	55.718	3	57.321	Josh Cachia
19	15	56.105	8	57.465	Travis Bright
20	16	56.293	4	57.899	Tevor Reis

250SX

- For the second consecutive week the fastest lap in 250SX belonged to Eli Tomac with a 51.845. This was only 51-second lap time set in the class.

- Christian Craig set the latest fastest lap of the night with a 54.179 on lap 14.

- Tomac was in the 52-second range for 10 of 15 laps—including nine straight laps (3-11).

- A poor start relegated Kyle Cunningham to an eight place finish, but the Star Yamaha rider sliced through the field after a 15th place (after lap one) start. How did he make up so much ground on the field? In laps 5-13, seven of Cunningham’s lap times were in the 53-second range.

- Interesting stat of the night: Christian Craig reeled off 11 straight 54-second lap times to close the race (laps 5-15).

- No rider was able to keep ALL of their laps under the 55-second mark. Tomac was the closest with 14 of 15 laps under 55-seconds. His 55.307 on the last lap broke the streak—but he was no doubt cruising at that point.

For the second straight week Eli Tomac set the fastest lap in 250SX.
Simon Cudby photo