Coming into the Oakland round of Monster Energy Supercross, the buzz was all about the possibility of having four different 450SX winners in four different rounds. And while that didn't end up panning out, the night's action was still jammed with great racing. Here's what went down in Northern California at the fourth race of the season.
Photos by Simon Cudby
Ryan Villopoto didn't holeshot the 450SX main event, but it didn't take him long to move to the front after starting in third behind Vince Friese and Justin Brayton.
Vince Friese was officially recorded as taking the 450SX holeshot, but he went backward pretty quickly after that, finishing the race in fourteenth.
Justin Brayton continued his string of excellent results by taking fifth, but he didn't quite have the same speed as last week when he came back on Villopoto for a heat race win. After the race he said he was having a hard time with the dragon's backs all night.
Roczen had a so-so night, finishing sixth, and was never a factor in the battle for podium positions.
Weston Peick ran as high as seventh, but DNF'd with what appeared to be a mechanical failure.
The crowd got to see another battle between rivals Chad Reed and James Stewart, but instead of racing for the win, they were battling over second place, where Stewart would eventually finish.
Justin Barcia had another night he'd likely rather forget. A bad start and a crash in the dragon's back resulted in a seventh place for Barcia.
After finishing the first lap in sixth place, Stewart was able to work his way up through the pack, but second place was as high as he would go. He was taking a little bit of time out of Villopoto's lead at the end, but Villopoto had a big lead and was in management mode. RV would win the race, taking the points lead in the process.
Dean Wilson nabbed the holeshot in the 250SX main event, but teammate Justin Hill ran him high in a corner, causing him to miss a triple and nearly get landed on. Ironically, when Wilson retook the lead a few laps later, he used the same move that Hill did on him in the same turn.
Hill showed some serious speed in Oakland, leading six of the 250SX main event's fifteen laps. He would eventually take third on the night, scoring his first ever podium as a pro.
Seely recorded a few laps that were pretty fast in the main, but he just didn't seem like he was on the same level that he was on at the first three rounds of the season. After going back and forth with Zach Osborne he took fourth and now sits second to Jason Anderson by six points.
Wilson was on point tonight. After taking the lead he held it for eight laps--a vast improvement from his performance at the first three rounds.
Unfortunately he ran into some bad luck on the final lap (in a his post-race interview Wilson said his bike momentarily cut out on him) that would prevent him from making a triple. Anderson was there to capitalize and seize yet another win on the final lap of the race.
Cooper Webb wasn't able to repeat his podium performance from last week. In a move that he would later take the blame for, Webb tried a move on Malcolm Stewart that left them both on the ground. Webb took ninth, while Stewart, whose rear brake pedal was torn off in the incident, finished in sixteenth.
After leading for just six of the season's first sixty laps, Anderson holds a six point lead going into A3.
450SX Results
1. R. Villopoto
2. J. Stewart
3. C. Reed
4. R. Dungey
5. J. Brayton
6. K. Roczen
7. J. Barcia
8. W. Hahn
9. J. Weimer
10. A. Short
11. J. Grant
12. I. Tedesco
13. M. Alessi
14. V. Friese
15. N. Wey
16. M. Goerke
17. K. Chisholm
18. J. Albertson
19. N. Schmidt
20. J. Decotis
21. K. Partridge
22. W. Peick
450SX Points
- Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki, 84
- Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki, 77
- Ken Roczen, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 75
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 75
- Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C., Yamaha, 71
- James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Suzuki, 66
- Justin Barcia, Pinetta, Fla., Honda, 56
- Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 49
- Wil Hahn, Menifee, Calif., Honda, 43
- Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 37
250SX Results
1. J. Anderson
2. D. Wilson
3. J. Hill
4. C. Seely
5. Z. Osborne
6. M. Leib
7. J. Nelson
8. S. McElrath
9. C. Webb
10. D. Ferris
11. J. Canada
12. S. Champion
13. D. Tedder
14. V. Teillet
15. T. Ingalls
16. M. Stewart
17. C. Martinez
18. B. Scharer
19. R. Alanis
20. A. Burns
21. B. Burns
22. A. Siminoe
250SX Points
- Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., KTM, 93
- Cole Seely, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Honda, 87
- Dean Wilson, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Kawasaki, 72
- Zach Osborne, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda, 69
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha, 65
- Justin Hill, Yoncalla, Ore., Kawasaki, 64
- Malcolm Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Honda, 54
- Jessy Nelson, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 49
- Shane McElrath, Chesterfield, S.C., Honda, 42
- Dean Ferris, Murrieta, Calif., KTM, 42
