Monster Energy Supercross: Indianapolis 2010 2

Take one huge venue (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy), add a boatload of fans (over 60,000 of them), add in a technical track with a hard base and loose surface on top, throw in the unpredictability of the 2010 season, make it the season-opener for the Lites East series, and you get an idea of what went down in Indy on Saturday night.









Kevin Windham, Ryan Villopoto, and Davi Millsaps battling for supremacy early in the main. Click image for a larger version.

Kevin Windham (Geico Powersports Honda) had already taken a heat race win earlier in the night, and he nailed a good start in the main event as well. But exiting the slippery first corner, he got edged out at the stripe by Davi Millsaps (Honda Red Bull Racing), who nailed the Spike TV Holeshot check. A quick check for title contenders found Ryan Villopoto (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in third, followed by Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) in fourth. Co-points-leader Josh Hill (San Manuel / Yamaha / JSE) was deeper in the pack, running around 12th spot, and seemingly unable to make much headway. He eventually finished ninth, and dropped ten point to the leaders, though he still holds third spot.


Davi led two circuits before a very persistent Kevin Windham muscled his way by in a one-lined off-camber section, and it became apparent that Windham was trying to gap the rest of the field. He maintained the lead for nine laps, though he and Ryan Villopoto did trade the spot once or twice. Villopoto finally took it over for good on lap 12, and he was able to lead the rest of the way.







Kevin Windham gets a little physical, nudging Davi Millsaps out of the way.

That was quite a recovery after the early part of his evening, where contact with Davi Millsaps in the heat race smashed the headpipe on his KX450, and also damaged the water pump, causing him to DNF the heat race. He came back to line up near the outside of the gate on the LCQ, and a bad start there had him back about ninth. Fortunately he was able to work his way through traffic, and he passed Jason Thomas (BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki) to take the win.


What makes his third-place start in the main event even more impressive was that he once again got a bad gate pick, and he started on the very outside of the gate on a very short start. Some aggressive braking and finesse through the first turn netted him his good early position. It definitely could have been a lot more work.







Ryan Villopoto scored his third win of the season in Indy.

The interesting side note to this is that with his third win of the season, Villopoto now moves into a tie for the series lead with Ryan Dungey as we near the halfway point. Yep, things are getting good…and you might see some riders returning form injuries in the next week or two, which could make it even more fun to watch.


The start of the Lites East series featured a very talent-laden field, including defending champ Christophe Pourcel (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and at least a dozen riders who had a legit chance to score a podium spot, if not a win.







Christophe Pourcel and Justin Barcia (as well as the rest of the riders in the Lites main) bang bars at the start of the main event.

When the revs went up, and the gate dropped, it was rookie Justin Barcia (Geico Powersports Honda) who had the holeshot, though he was quickly passed by Christophe Pourcel. The Frenchman went wire-to-wire, scoring a comfortable win. Not bad, considering just a few weeks ago he’d crashed while practicing on a 450, and rebroke a collarbone that he’d had surgically repaired just a year ago.


The battle in that race was for the other podium spots. Barcia made a couple mistakes that allowed Austin Stroupe (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) to move into second on lap four. He was also followed through by Ryan Sipes (MotoConcepts Yamaha) who looked like a lock for a podium finish, but lapped traffic, combined with a persistent pursuit by Barcia, cost him a spot at the end. The podium was Pourcel, Stroupe, and Barcia; and the top ten was rounded out by Brett Metcalfe (who’d reinjured an ankle earlier in the day), Dean Wilson, Kyle Regal, Nico Izzi and Martin Davalos, and Fatty McCheeseburger, Troy Adams. (You’ll have to check out Pit Bits from Indy to get that joke.)







This week's podium included Christophe Pourcel, Austin Stroupe, and rookie Justin Barcia.

We’d guess we can expect another big crowd next weekend as the series moves to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA, which is traditionally one of the biggest races of the season.


Results

2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Indianapolis, IN


Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Austin Stroupe

2. Justin Barcia

3. James DeCotis

4. Michael Willard

5. Brett Metcalfe

6. Taylor Futrell

7. Jake Moss

8. Vince Friese

9. Levi Kilbarger


Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Christophe Pourcel

2. Ryan Sipes

3. Kyle Regal

4. Martin Davalos

5. Troy Adams

6. Dean Wilson

7. Adam Chatfield

8. Blake Baggett

9. Tevin Tapia


Supercross Heat 1
1. Josh Hill

2. Matt Boni

3. Nick Wey

4. Jarred Browne

5. Michael Byrne

6. Jason Lawrence

7. Billy Payne

8. Davi Millsaps

9. Trey Canard


Supercross Heat 2
1. Kevin Windham

2. Ryan Dungey

3. Justin Brayton

4. Ivan Tedesco

5. Kyle Chisholm

6. Chris Blose

7. Tommy Hahn

8. Dan Reardon

9. Grant Langston


Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Kyle Cunningham

2. Nico Izzi


Supercross LCQ
1. Ryan Villopoto

2. Jason Thomas


Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki)

2. Austin Stroupe (Suzuki)

3. Justin Barcia (Honda)

4. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha)

5. Brett Metcalfe (Honda)

6. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki)

7. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

8. Nico Izzi (Yamaha)

9. Martin Davalos (Yamaha)

10. Troy Adams (Suzuki)

11. Blake Baggett (Suzuki)

12. Jake Moss (Suzuki)

13. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)

14. Adam Chatfield (Kawasaki)

15. Taylor Futrell (KTM)

16. Michael Willard (Honda)

17. Vince Friese (Yamaha)

18. Kyle Cunningham (Honda)

19. Tevin Tapia (KTM)

20. James DeCotis (Honda)


Supercross Main Event
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

2. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

3. Kevin Windham (Honda)

4. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

5. Davi Millsaps (Honda)

6. Chris Blose (Honda)

7. Grant Langston (Yamaha)

8. Nick Wey (Kawasaki)

9. Josh Hill (Yamaha)

10. Jason Lawrence (Yamaha)

11. Ivan Tedesco (Yamaha)

12. Jarred Browne (Kawasaki)

13. Michael Byrne (Yamaha)

14. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha)

15. Matt Boni (Honda)

16. Tommy Hahn (Suzuki)

17. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)

18.
Billy Payne (Honda)

19. Dan Reardon (Yamaha)

20. Trey Canard (Honda)


Supercross Point Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto 145

2. Ryan Dungey 145

3. Josh Hill 135

4. Davi Millsaps 114

5. Kevin Windham 106

6. Justin Brayton 105

7. Ivan Tedesco 97

8. Nick Wey 74

9. Andrew Short 69

10. Tommy Hahn 61

11. Kyle Chisholm 60

12. Michael Byrne 57

13. Grant Langston 54

14. James Stewart 51

15. Chris Blose 50

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