Race Report: Phoenix 2011 5


Round two of the 2011 Monster Energy Supercross series was held in Phoenix, Arizona’s Chase Field on Saturday night, and as everyone had hoped, the riders and teams put on quite a spectacle. There was racing throughout the pack, and a tricky track that was slippery enough to keep the riders on their toes. The whoop section this weekend was also considerably longer than at A1, and far, there are no repeat winners in the 450 class, and some fresh talent on the 450 podium. Let’s check out the action.


Supercross Class


When the gate dropped for the 450 main event, it was James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) jumping out front, followed early on by Kevin Windham (GEICO Powersports Honda) and Justin Brayton (Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX). Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki) was also lurking in the background, and quickly got around Brayton and got by Windham on lap three. That set up a showdown between the two fastest qualifiers (Stewart and Villopoto), who’d been only 0.218 apart in practice times.









James Stewart grabbed the holeshot, and was in full sprint mode. Well, as least as much as the track would allow.

The two stayed in close contact until just short of the midway point in the main, when Villopoto went down in the same corner where Stewart had crashed during his heat race. He was able to remount quickly and rejoin the race in second spot.


Afterwards, both said that they thought the positions would have likely stayed the same until the end, even without the crash, but it was cool to see how James handled being in the lead again, rather than being forced to work from deep in the pack, like he did at the season opener.









The gap between the top two seemed to be narrowing, but Ryan Villopoto went down, along with hopes for a battle to the end and a photo finish.

Other guys worth watching included Trey Canard (American Honda Racing), who came from fifth to third at the end, surprising himself in the process. He had already gotten by Kevin Windham for the final podium spot before Windham got tangled up with Ryan Clark (DirtLab.com). The ensuing crash broke Windham’s front caliper mount, leaving the caliper dangling at the end of the brake line, and Windham out of the race. It also bottled up Ryan Dungey and Chad Reed, who were seventh and eighth respectively at the end of the first lap, but who had caught up to Justin Brayton. That trio scrambled back and forth for several laps, with Reed finishing just off the podium in fourth, and the 2010 champ, Dungey, in fifth. Positions six through ten were all well-earned, and belonged to Brayton, Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM), Brett Metcalfe (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), Kyle Chisholm (MotoConcepts Yamaha), and Kyle Regal (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha).









Justin Brayton, Chad Reed, and Ryan Dungey were about this far apart for a good chunk of the main, but not always in this order.

With his win last week, and second this week, Ryan Villopoto has a two-point lead over James Stewart in the title chase.


Supercross Lites Class


In the 250cc class it looked like we were going to have two different winners in the first two races of the 2011 West Coast Supercross Lites. Well, at least until early leader Broc Tickle washed out the front end in a loose 180-degree bowl turn, handing the lead over to his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate, Josh Hansen. Broc had grabbed the holeshot and built a decent lead for the first seven laps, but his crash allowed Hansen to go by and cruise in for his second straight win.









Broc Tickle is over on the outside, and he scored the holeshot for the second week in a row.







There's Broc, demoing just how slick the track was.

While that was going on, a little deeper in the pack Ken Roczen (Red Bull KTM) was running in fourth spot, and went down hard in a very fast sand sweeper, and Kyle Cunningham (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha) crashed while trying to avoid him. That just added to a bad night for Roczen, who had gone through the LCQ to make the main after coming up very short on a triple during his heat race, leaving him with a badly bruised right heel.







Ken Roczen goes down hard, while Kyle Cunningham tries in vain to keep from swapping out as he goes around the downed KTM rider.

So while the leaders were changing places up front, Ryan Morais (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) had been in second early, before giving way to Hansen. He was back in second after Tickle’s crash, but Broc moved by him and back into second with less than a handful of laps left in the main.


With Hansen, Tickle and Morais on the podium, that left Cole Seely (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda), and Eli Tomac (GEICO Powersports Honda) to duke it out for fourth and fifth. The rest of the top half of the pack was filled out by Tyla Rattray (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), James DeCotis (filling in at GEICO Powersports Honda for an injured Wil Hahn), Travis Baker (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda), Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy Suzuki), and Kyle Cunningham, who remounted to finish tenth after his crash.


In the championship hunt, Hansen now has a six-point advantage on Tickle.


So who has “home field” advantage next weekend? Well, no one, actually, as the series will make its first-ever visit to Dodger Stadium, which overlooks downtown L.A. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of dirt we’ll have for the event, and who adapts the quickest.


Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Phoenix, AZ


Supercross Lites Heat 1


1. Tyla Rattray

2. Kyle Cunningham

3. Ryan Marmont

4. Antonio Balbi

5. Eli Tomac

6. Ryan Morais

7. Jake Canada

8. Casey Hinson

9. Nick Paluzzi


Supercross Lites Heat 2


1. Josh Hansen

2. Martin Davalos

3. Broc Tickle

4. Cole Seely

5. Christian Craig

6. James DeCotis

7. Ben Evans

8. Bruce Rutherford

9. Travis Baker


Supercross Heat 1


1. Ryan Villopoto

2. Andrew Short

3. Ivan Tedesco

4. Kevin Windham

5. Tommy Hahn

6. Kyle Chisholm

7. Nick Wey

8. Weston Peick

9. Justin Brayton


Supercross Heat 2


1. Chad Reed

2. James Stewart

3. Austin Stroupe

4. Ryan Dungey

5. Trey Canard

6. Davi Millsaps

7. Brett Metcalfe

8. Ryan Clark

9. Jeff Alessi


Supercross Lites LCQ


1. Ken Roczen

2. Scott Champion


Supercross LCQ


1. Kyle Regal

2. Chris Blose


Supercross Lites Main Event


1. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)

2. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)

3. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)

4. Cole Seely (Honda)

5. Eli Tomac (Honda)

6. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)

7. James DeCotis (Honda)

8. Travis Baker (Honda)

9. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)

10. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)

11. Jake Canada (Kawasaki)

12. Ben Evans (Kawasaki)

13. Bruce Rutherford (Kawasaki)

14. Antonio Balbi (Kawasaki)

15. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)

16. Casey Hinson (KTM)

17. Ryan Marmont (KTM)

18. Scott Champion (Kawasaki)

19. Ken Roczen (KTM)

20. Christian Craig (Honda)


Supercross Main Event


1. James Stewart (Yamaha)

2. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

3. Trey Canard (Honda)

4. Chad Reed (Honda)

5. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

6. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

7. Andrew Short (KTM)

8. Brett Metcalfe (Suzuki)

9. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha)

10. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

11. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

12. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

13. Weston Peick (Yamaha)

14. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

15. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

16. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)

17. Ryan Clark (Honda)

18. Jeff Alessi (Yamaha)

19. Kevin Windham (Honda)

20. Austin Stroupe (Yamaha)


Supercross Lites West Point Standings


1. Josh Hansen 50

2. Broc Tickle 44

3. Ryan Morais 35

4. Tyla Rattray 35

5. Cole Seely 34

6. Martin Davalos 30

7. Eli Tomac 27

8. Travis Baker 26

9. Kyle Cunningham 19

10. Nick Paluzzi 18


Supercross Point Standings


1. Ryan Villopoto 47

2. James Stewart 45

3. Ryan Dungey 38

4. Trey Canard 38

5. Chad Reed 34

6. Brett Metcalfe 26

7. Andrew Short 25

8. Kyle Chisholm 22

9. Ivan Tedesco 21

10. Justin Brayton 20


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