Ryan Villopoto cements 2012 AMA Supercross lead with his win in San Diego – Motocross News
Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto collected his third win of the 2012 Monster Energy American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross season at the Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, on Saturday night, February 11.
The defending AMA Supercross champion finished ahead of TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray/Honda’s Chad Reed and Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey who rounded out the second and third place respectively.
Prior to Saturday’s race, it was Reed who was being considered the favourite to win the race. The Florida-based rider had been outstanding at Qualcomm Stadium in the past and was expected to put on a memorable show on spectator on Saturday night.
What the huge crowd of 58,782 fans witnessed during the race was indeed memorable, thought the result that eventually came out was slightly different than what they had expected.
Despite losing the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot to Yoshimura Suzuki’s Brett Metcalfe, the Washington-based Villopoto moved past him in the second lap. Reed eventually separated himself from the rest of the pack and moved just behind the defending AMA Supercross
champion.
As the race progressed, Villopoto held on to his lead, while Reed continued to breathe down his neck. In Lap 18, the latter finally managed to edge past the Kawasaki rider but failed to hold on to it firmly. Villopoto rode past him just before the two riders
reached the white flag to clinch the win, leaving Reed to settle for runner-up place.
Joe Gibb’s Racing/Yamaha’s James Stewart had moved into third place early in the race, but a crash in the whoops caused him to lose his spot to Dungey. The Red Bull/KTM rider maintained his position until the end to round out the top three, while Stewart
finished in 15th place.
Talking about the challenging whoops and his victory, Villopoto conceded, “The whoops were treacherous tonight. I knew it was important to be consistent every lap. Battling Reed on the last few laps was exciting and I was able to make a good pass. I’m happy
to keep the red plate on my bike and am excited for the Dallas race next week.”
With the sixth round of 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, an International Motorcyclist Federation (FIM), wrapped up, Villopoto still tops the standings with 133 points, while Reed stayed right behind him with 127 points. Dungey still held
on to his third place with 123 points, while Stewart, current No.4, found the difference between him and Villopoto grow by 32 points.
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