That’s it. Turn out the lights, the parties over. The Built Ford Tough Unadilla National, round ten of twelve, is over. And with it, some great racing has left New York State for another year.
Unadilla saw some big changes in the track and year by year the facility continues to improve and work on small things here and there. This year there was a tunnel added for better spectator access as well as the riders turned right and went back into Gravity Cavity and then proceeded to hit a wall berm. All the changes were pretty cool and highly successful to the eyes of this reporter.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto absolutely crushed the field in winning the Oakley Bomb for fastest qualifier, he holeshot both motos and he cruised to 1-1 victories. It was a tour de force performance for Villopoto coming off his poor (for him) Millville two weeks ago.
RV’s now has a 46 point lead with two races left and if he goes 1-1 next week in Utah then no matter how anyone else finishes, he will win his second 450MX title.
Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia finished second overall in front of his home state fans with 4-2 moto finishes. Yeah, he didn’t have anything for Villopoto in the second moto but then again, neither did anyone else.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey went 2-4 for third overall and for as good as Dungey rode in the first moto, it went down the tubes with a poor start in moto 2. Dungey had to work hard to pass JGR Yamaha’s Josh Grant and then he worked hard on Jake Weimer for the last lap and a half but wasn’t able to make the pass. Dungey mentioned on the podium that his bike set-up was a bit off at Unadilla.
The Monster Kawasaki rider of Jake Weimer had a great second moto with that third. It was by far Weimer’s best ride of the year and he and the team hope this is the spark that gets him going.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart went down on the first lap of moto 2 and DNF’d with a suspected neck injury. Stewart had ridden a great first moto to end up third.
There was chaos in moto 2 with Stewart crashing and pulling out. Justin Brayton, Trey Canard, Malcolm Stewart, Mike Alessi and Tyla Rattray were all down in the first turn and had to come from the back. Canard broke a front wheel in the crash and was a lap down before he rejoined the race. In the first moto Canard’s motor let go while he was in fourth. All in all zero points scored for Trey on the day.
Brett Metcalfe showed back up as there was an off-weekend in Canada and the #24 Kawasaki went 10-6 for seventh overall. It was a strong showing by the Aussie and one that he hopes gets him a ride in the USA next year.
As much as Villopoto dominated the 450’s, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac did the same in the 250 class minus the two holeshots. Tomac went 1-1 and widened his points lead on Red Bull KTM’s Kenny Roczen (who had an off first moto). Tomac looked fantastic and was just dropping seconds off in the second moto while chasing Roczen.
MyPlash/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin had a career best day with 2-3 moto scores to end up second overall. Martin was very good in both motos and has been on a roll the last two weeks. Roczen was third overall after a decent second moto where he failed to hold onto the lead but he still beat everyone not named Eil Tomac.
GEICO Honda’s Zach Osborne has been searching for a cure for his poor first moto finishes and he might have found it in switching bar bends and to a bar that had a cross bar in it. Whatever the reason, Osborne finished third in the first moto and fourth overall.
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin has the RC Hard Charger award on lock-down as he crashed on the first lap in the first moto and then got caught in the gate for the second moto. Musquin had to come from 40th place in both motos to 8-9 finishes.
GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn wrapped up the Motorcycle Superstore holeshot award for the 2013 250 class with his first moto holie. Hahn’s been simply on fire off the start and led for a long time in the first moto. On the day he went 6-8.
