The MAVTV+ 50-Day Countdown to the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship reaches 2011, a clash of eras that led to some of the best racing in the sport’s history.
The pre-season hype entering Monster Energy Supercross focused on two generations. James Stewart and Chad Reed had been the previous dominators of the sport, but injuries and health issues ruined their 2010 campaigns, allowed a takeover by The Ryans, Dungey and Villopoto. The duo had battled hard for the stadium title until Villopoto crashed and broke his leg. Dungey, just a rookie in the 450 class, went on to take the AMA Supercross Championship and then also dominate Lucas Oil Pro Motocross as well.
Villopoto was all healed up for 2011 and packing a new weapon in the form of star trainer Aldon Baker. Stewart was back, also, hoping to get a handle on the new-generation Yamaha YZ450F that made life tough on him the previous year. Reed, though, was in a totally unique situation. He walked away from the second year of his Monster Energy Kawasaki contract, and instead built his own team, TwoTwo Motorsports, riding Hondas. It was an ambitious play, and one that had rarely worked out for others when tried in the past.
Villopoto fired first by winning the Anaheim 1 opener. Stewart returned fire by winning round two, after Villopoto lost the front end. Villopoto won round three after Stewart lost the front end. It was looking like a Stew v. RV season, but the real fireworks of this magical season were yet to come.
Reed struggled at the first few races but started to come to life on his Pro Circuit built Honda. He was back to his old podium form, then won in his favorite place, San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, and confirmed he was in this title hunt. This led to a legendary race in Atlanta where Stewart and Reed left their younger rivals behind and put on a classic, with Reed leading most of the way, then Stewart throwing in a late pass. Reed tried a desperation move on the last lap, aiming to the exit of a 180 corner, taking them both down. Villopoto and Dungey cruised around the downed bikes and riders, the fans went nuts, and the Reed/Stewart rivalry had just added yet another chapter.
Villopoto was inching away in points until a crazy night in Jacksonville, Florida, when he crashed in his heat race and LCQ and failed to qualify for the main event! Then Stewart went down off the start of the main and failed to finish! Reed would emerge with the points lead, but by then a new contender had joined the fray in 450 rookie Trey Canard. Trey won early in the season in Houston, then won the wild Jacksonville race to get square into the title hunt. Then next weekend in Toronto, Dungey logged his sole win of the season. This was getting crazy!
It could be argued that the next-to-last race of the year, in Salt Lake City, was one of the most pivotal (and underrated) races in supercross history. Canard, unfortunately, was out after suffering a broken femur while testing. But Villopoto, Dungey, Reed and Stewart were still in the hunt. Stewart got out front early but crashed twice—still unable to tame his Yamaha consistently. Villopoto and Reed got away from Dungey, and Villopoto was clutch down the stretch to best Reed and take a narrow win. That gave him just enough cushion to clinch the title at the Vegas finale without winning the race. Reed took the finale ahead of Dungey, Villopoto took third and bested Reed for the title by four points. At that final event, banners were hung from the rafters saying, “The Greatest Season Ever.” Maybe that’s a little hyperbole, but 2011 is definitely on the short list of the best.
Even better, this amazing supercross campaign slid right into Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, with Villopoto, Dungey and Reed all over each other again (Stewart had a supercross-only deal and did not compete, but he would be back the next year). Canard even got back in the fray, running the pace once his femur was healed, only to reinjure it at Washougal.
Perhaps most impressive was Reed. His privateer team had gotten an upgrade when Honda gave him Canard’s full factory bike. Reed, mostly considered a supercross specialist before his 2009 450 National Motocross Championship run, provided all that The Ryans could handle, leading the points for the first half of the season. Dungey was left making up ground after weird, assorted bike problems, and Villopoto couldn’t find the outdoor-dominator mojo he had in his three-year run in the 250 class.
The back and forth three-rider tilt peaked at Millville, when Reed held off Dungey for the first moto win. In moto two, Villopoto got out front off the start, but Reed was on fire and blasted past. Moments later Reed went flying, literally, off the base of one of Millville’s jumps, coming unglued from his bike and launching through the air. It appeared Reed was heading to a bone-shattering crash, but he somehow landed perfectly on the downslope of the side of the jump. He was uninjured, got back into the race in last place, and salvaged 14th.
Watch: 2011 Year in Review: Ryan Villopoto vs. Dungey and Reed - Part 2 of 2, which includes the "Chadapault" crash at the 1:10 mark.
Unfortunately, Reed’s dream run was over, as although he wasn’t hurt physically, he wasn’t the same mentally after that crash. The extra edge he needed to push The Ryans was gone. Dungey was on a roll, actually, beating Villopoto in that second Spring Creek moto, winning again at Washougal, and nearly making up all the points he had lost with his early-season mechanical troubles at Freestone. Then the series took a brief break, and Villopoto showed up with a new weapon, the 2012 KX450F, and he went to another level on it, dominating at Unadilla. Dungey’s life that day was made harder when Honda upgraded 250 rider Justin Barcia onto Canard’s bike. Barcia was fast immediately and gave Dungey fits, and Dungey wasn’t happy with the aggressive riding from Bam Bam.
A week later at Southwick Dungey had more bad luck when his bike didn’t start for moto two. They got it going after the gate dropped, and Dungey powered onto the track some 30 seconds behind the field and still managed seventh. On a wild, rainy, muddy day, Australian Brett Metcalfe emerged with his long-awaited first-ever AMA win.
Villopoto then pulled a last lap pass on Dungey at Steel City to steal a moto win, then won moto two going away to open a small points gap before the finale, at Pala in California. Dungey won the overall, but Villopoto held on for the title by 12 points. He had won 450 Motocross and Supercross in the same year, matching Dungey’s feat from the previous year. Reed and Stewart were still very good, but The Ryan era was well underway.
In the 250 class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki was still in its run of dominance, and while Canard and GEICO Honda had taken the title from the green boys in ’10, there was no doubt this time. Blake Baggett, Dean Wilson and Tyla Rattray were often sweeping the podium on their KX250Fs. Baggett was insane fast at times, but then off at others, while Rattray was rock solid. Wilson, though, had spent the summer training at Reed’s place in Florida, and the lessons were paying off. Wilson had not won an overall through the first half of the year, but crushed the field at Unadilla, and then kept winning. By the end, the Scotsman pulled a points lead and claimed the championship over Rattray and Baggett. Eli Tomac was the first “non green guy” in fourth.
2011 250 Class Overall Points
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dean Wilson | Scotland, United Kingdom  | 538 |
| 2 |  Tyla Rattray | Durban, South Africa  | 472 |
| 3 |  Blake Baggett | Grand Terrace, CA  | 469 |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 314 |
| 5 |  Kyle Cunningham | Aledo, TX | 311 |
2011 450 Class Overall Points
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ryan Villopoto | Seattle, WA | 526 |
| 2 |  Ryan Dungey | Belle Plaine, MN | 514 |
| 3 |  Chad Reed | Kurri Kurri, Australia  | 429 |
| 4 |  Brett Metcalfe | Australia | 374 |
| 5 |  Mike Alessi | Apple Valley, CA | 304 |
Packing both of the Ryans, Team USA (along with Baggett) headed to France to defend the Chamberlain Trophy at the FIM Motocross of Nations. It was close, as the home team gave them quite a challenge, but Villopoto and Dungey both got good starts in the final moto, while France’s Christophe Pourcel suffered a flat tire while fighting them for the lead. Dungey and Villopoto would finish the moto 1-2 and deliver Team USA’s seventh-straight victory at the event. Here’s what no one would have predicted at the time: it would also be Team USA’s last victory to date.
2011 Motocross of Nations Results
Motocross of Nations - Combined
September 18, 2011
| Rider | Points | Race | Class | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 26 | |||
| Ryan Villopoto | 1 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | Open | Kawasaki | |
| Ryan Dungey | 2 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | MX1 | Suzuki | |
| Ryan Villopoto | 3 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | Kawasaki | |
| Ryan Dungey | 3 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX1 | Suzuki | |
| Blake Baggett | 17 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | Kawasaki | |
| Blake Baggett | 17 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX2 | Kawasaki | |
| 2 |  | 39 | |||
| Gautier Paulin | 1 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | Yamaha | |
| Marvin Musquin | 8 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX2 | KTM | |
| Gautier Paulin | 8 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | Open | Yamaha | |
| Marvin Musquin | 11 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | KTM | |
| Christophe Pourcel | 11 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX1 | Kawasaki | |
| Christophe Pourcel | 35 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | MX1 | Kawasaki | |
Villopoto’s dream season wasn’t quite done. Monster Energy Supercross debuted a new off-season event called Monster Energy Cup, offering $1 Million to a rider who could sweep three main events on one night. Villopoto delivered again, putting an extra cash bonus as icing on his championship cake.
Watch RV recall the 2011 Monster Energy Cup:
