Ryan Villopoto races to victory in Thunder Valley Nationals Moto 1
The fifth stop of Lucas Oil American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) National Motocross (MX) Championship, Thunder Valley National, went down in Lakewood, Colorado, on Saturday, June 25th.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto managed to wrap his fingers around victory in the first 450-Class Moto. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey finished as runner-up, while Two-Two Motorsports/Bel-Rey’s Chad Reed rounded out the podium.
As the starting gun was fired, Christian Craig got off to an excellent start, securing the holeshot. Within a matter of minutes, Reed started applying pressure on the young rider, attempting to edge past him. However, Craig managed to keep the veteran at
bay by giving him a slight bump to slow him down a little.
The cheeky move by the leader of the pack proved costly for Reed, making him lose his second position to Villopoto. Once moving into the second position, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider made short work of Craig by getting past him on a jump to steal the
lead.
Within the first five minutes of the race, Reed moved into second place, with Dungey breathing right down on his neck in third place.
Josh Grant, who was riding steadily in fifth place, despite a knee injury, sustained earlier in practice, found the pain returning after twisting it again and was forced to pull out of the race. This allowed Mike Alessi to move up the order, with Kevin Windham
following suit. The two managed to push Craig down to sixth position to take hold of the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Grant was not the only one to pull into the pits. Almost eight minutes into the race, Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGR’s Davi Millsaps had to put out of the race as well.
Villopoto continued to hold on to his position as the race progressed, steadily increasing the gap between him and the rest of the pack, with Reed and Dungey in determined pursuit.
Despite a few minor hiccups, the Rockstar/Makita Suzuki rider managed to make a strong comeback and overtake Reed to move into second place with almost seven minutes left in the race. However, he was almost nine seconds behind the rider in front, making
it almost next to impossible for him to move in front unless Villopoto made a huge blunder.
Right behind them, Alessi and Windham battled it out for fourth place, with the latter eventually winning the battle.
Villopoto managed to keep his lead intact till the very end and eventually ended up victorious. Dungey held on to the second position, while Reed settled for third-place finish. Windham and Alessi rounded out the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Though Villopoto won Moto 1, the fate of the race was far from decided. A first-place finish in Moto 2 promised Dungey his first overall victory of the season.
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