Welcome to round 13 of Monster Energy Supercross and a much more subdued environment inside the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri. On the heels of a dramatic day in Toronto that raised questions for Ryan Villopoto and Adam Cianciarulo, the pits were rather quiet this morning. We spoke with Villopoto’s mechanic Mike Willamson and he said that RV is back to 100 percent this weekend after visiting the hospital in Toronto due to abdominal pains. Villopoto reported earlier this week that he feels much better, although the doctors were unable to provide a diagnosis.
The 250SX East Region is down to a two man race after Cianciarulo had to undergo shoulder surgery earlier this week to repair damage he sustained during a practice crash in Toroto. Cianciarulo is expected to miss three to four months with the injury. Martin Davalos now holds a five-point lead over GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle with just three rounds remaining.
After missing the first twelve rounds due to a broken arm suffered during off-season testing, Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard will make his season debut tonight. Canard rode well in practice and finished ninth. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac is back as well after aggravating a previous shoulder injury in Daytona which caused him to miss the past three races. Tomac, like Canard, was fast in practice finishing seventh.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart was fastest in practice with a 47.431, but it didn’t come without reservation. Stewart stalled in the second practice, returned to the mechanics area to have the bike looked over and was able to get back on the track. Moments later he was forced to pull off again and did not return. Ryan Dungey would put down a late heater to finish second with Ken Roczen in third and Justin Barcia and Ryan Villopoto rounding out the top five. Times were very close in practice with first through tenth separated by less than a second.
In the 250 East, Martin Davalos and Justin Bogle traded blows atop the chart. Davalos set a fast lap at the end to clip Bogle and take the top spot. Initially Yamalube/Star Racing’s Jeremy Martin was second, but we believe his fast time was taken away, as he was shuffled back to seventh after practice. Blake Baggett, a resurgent Matt Lemoine and Kyle Cunningham would round out the top five.
Round 13 will air live tonight on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 8:30 Eastern.
