Race Report: Toronto 2011 4

In a season filled with, “Whoa, that was a wild race,” this week’s action in Toronto fit right in. We added another rider to the list of winners in the 450 class (which now stands at five after 12 races), when Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey took the win over Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports Bel Ray Racing), and Trey Canard (American Honda Racing).

Click any image for a larger version.

In the Lites class, it looked briefly like it might be Blake Wharton or his GEICO Powersports Honda teammate, Justin Barcia…or maybe even Ryan Sipes (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha), who momentarily took over the lead before getting nudged off the track. But instead, it was Dean Wilson (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) who took the win, ahead of Barcia and Wharton. Now let’s find out how they all got there.

450 Main

When the gate dropped for the 450 main, it looked like it’d be any of several of the series title contenders. Instead, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki of Fabien Izoird, who’d had the last pick on the gate after making the main via the LCQ.

Then things got really interesting.

James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) went down in the first turn, immediately dropping to the back of the pack. He also later tangled with series points leader, Ryan Villopoto, whose bent bike required a pit stop in the mechanic’s area, and he could only muster a ninth after that. Stewart on the other hand, made it back to fourth at the end. All of which further scrambled the championship chase.

Meanwhile, up front Ryan Dungey had taken over the lead from Izoird. Behind him, the podium had already been settled by lap two, with Chad Reed moving into second, and Trey Canard to third. When all the math was done at the end of the main, we had a new points leader. Chad Reed had moved ahead of Villopoto by three points, with Dungey 8 points out of the top spot. Actually, the top five are all within 22 points with five races remaining. Picking a winner out of this bunch? It’s still too early.

Other notables in the main event results include Nick Wey, who was sixth, and Andrew Short who charged from 14th early on to seventh at the end.

250 Main Event

The holeshot in the Lites Main event went to GEICO Powersports Honda’s Blake Wharton, with Barcia right on his tail, and Ryan Sipes was in third, but about a half-lap after this, Sipes passed both of them...around the outside...and moved into the lead. But remember back to the first round of the Lites East title chase in Houston when Sipes bumped Wharton out of a podium spot? Apparently Wharton did, too, and returned the favor, knocking Sipes off the track. Barcia took over the lead at that point.

After holding down the lead for nearly the first two-thirds of the race, Barcia was passed by Dean Wilson, who went by him for his second win of the season. Barcia hung on for second, with Wharton grabbing the final spot.

PJ Larsen grabbed his best career Supercross result, finishing in fourth spot, and Sipes came all the way from 19th to finish fifth. Blake Baggett, Gannon Audette, Hunter Hewitt, Darryn Durham, and Matt Lemoine made up the rest of the top ten.

In the title chase, Barcia only lost a single point, and now leads by 16 over Wilson, with Sipes 23 points out.

The next chapter? That’ll take place in Dallas next weekend…and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Supercross Lites Heat 1

1. Dean Wilson

2. Blake Baggett

3. Malcolm Stewart

4. Darryn Durham

5. Blake Wharton

6. PJ Larsen

7. Hunter Hewitt

8. Les Smith

9. Brad Ripple

Supercross Lites Heat 2

1. Justin Barcia

2. Gannon Audette

3. Lance Vincent

4. Matt Lemoine

5. Ryan Sipes

6. Justin Sipes

7. AJ Catanzaro

8. Alex Martin

9. Jason Anderson

Supercross Heat 1

1. Trey Canard

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Kevin Windham

4. Davi Millsaps

5. Nick Wey

6. Cole Seely

7. Chris Blose

8. Austin Stroupe

9. Matt Boni

Supercross Heat 2

1. James Stewart

2. Chad Reed

3. Ryan Villopoto

4. Ivan Tedesco

5. Michael Byrne

6. Justin Brayton

7. Weston Peick

8. Tye Simmonds

9. Mike Alessi

Supercross Lites LCQ

1. Taylor Futrell

2. Ricky Renner

Supercross LCQ

1. Andrew Short

2. Fabien Izoird

Supercross Lites Main Event

1. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

2. Justin Barcia (Honda)

3. Blake Wharton (Honda)

4. PJ Larsen (KTM)

5. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

6. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki)

7. Gannon Audette (Yamaha)

8. Hunter Hewitt (Suzuki)

9. Darryn Durham (Honda)

10. Matt Lemoine (Kawasaki)

11. Justin Sipes (Kawasaki)

12. Les Smith (Honda)

13. AJ Catanzaro (Honda)

14. Alex Martin (Honda)

15. Lance Vincent (Honda)

16. Ricky Renner (KTM)

17. Taylor Futrell (Honda)

18. Brad Ripple (Honda)

19. Malcolm Stewart (Suzuki)

20. Jason Anderson (Suzuki)

Supercross Main Event

1. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

2. Chad Reed (Honda)

3. Trey Canard (Honda)

4. James Stewart (Yamaha)

5. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

6. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

7. Andrew Short (KTM)

8. Kevin Windham (Honda)

9. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

10. Cole Seely (Honda)

11. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

12. Weston Peick (Yamaha)

13. Fabien Izoird (Kawasaki)

14. Michael Byrne (Suzuki)

15. Tye Simmonds (KTM)

16. Matt Boni (Kawasaki)

17. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

18. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

19. Austin Stroupe (Yamaha)

20. Mike Alessi (KTM)

Supercross Lites East Point Standings

1. Justin Barcia 138

2. Dean Wilson 122

3. Ryan Sipes 115

4. Blake Baggett 100

5. Blake Wharton 89

6. PJ Larsen 80

7. Matt Lemoine 80

8. Malcolm Stewart 55

9. Lance Vincent 49

10. Alex Martin 47

Supercross Point Standings

1. Chad Reed 236

2. Ryan Villopoto 233

3. Ryan Dungey 228

4. James Stewart 216

5. Trey Canard 214

6. Andrew Short 159

7. Justin Brayton 137

8. Kevin Windham 134

9. Davi Millsaps 128

10. Nick Wey 109