After the Easter break it was back to business for AMA Supercross and round 13 came to the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Ryan Villopoto was looking for his first five-win streak of his career and Davi Millsaps looked to improve on his second place finish in Toronto. Red Bull KTM Factory rider, Ryan Dungey has been consistent all series but hasn’t had the good starts and aggressive early pace to challenge Villopoto.
450 sx class
Once again Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Villopoto was fast at the gate drop but Mike Alessi (MotoConcepts) took the holeshot with Barcia and Villopoto on his back wheel. But RV didn’t waste any time making the move for the lead.
Ryan Dungey, James Stewart and Justin Barcia were in a three-way battle for fourth and Dungey came out on top – quickly passing Alessi for third with Stewart continuing to put pressure on Dungey.
Rockstar Energy Racing’s Davi Millsaps got off to a bad start and was well outside the top ten in the first corner – he battled back but had too much to do and he finished in fifth.
Dungey and Stewart were throwing down the fastest laps and making time on Trey Canard (Honda Muscle Milk). On lap eight Dungey and Stewart caught the Honda rider – Dungey went to the outside and then cut back for a great pass and within seconds Stewart followed.
Stewart kept the pressure on Dungey but in the corner before the finish line Stewart lost the frontend and was left with his Yoshimura Suzuki on top of him. Bubba tried to continue but he had damaged his front wheel – he called it a night and the error had cost him a podium spot.
Dungey didn’t let off the gas but RV was just too smooth. The Red Bull KTM rider was unable to get close enough to challenge for the win, eventually settling for second at the flag.
“I definitely needed a better start tonight. We are all so close in lap times that if you don’t get the best start, the leaders pull away quickly. I was able to get into second place but didn’t leave myself enough time to catch Ryan [Villopoto]. Overall, I am happy to be on the podium and very happy with my bike and hope to continue to improve at the next round,” commented Dungey.
The Houston win is RV’s fifth consecutive supercross win and with six wins in the last seven rounds – is looking unstoppable. Millsaps now trails 21 points behind Villpoto with just four rounds to go.
250 sx class
Since Daytona Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) has had the better of Championship rival Wil Hahn (GECIO Honda), taking three wins out of three. And with Dean Wilson out after his crash at Indy the series looked like a straight fight between Hahn and Musquin. But in his home state of Texas, Blake Wharton (Rockstar Energy Racing) was looking to grab his first win of 2013 and stir things up.
It wasn’t a clean start to the 250 race with at least five riders collected in a first corner crash. Zach Freeberg grabbed the holeshot in front of Musquin and Wil Hahn with Texan, Blake Wharton in fifth. Freeberg wasn’t out in front for long – Wharton and Musquin quickly passed and they began a back and forth battle for the lead. Wharton made a pass stick but Hahn was closing the gap back in third.
Musquin wasn’t going to let Wharton pull away but a mistake in the whoops put the French rider into the tuff blocks – Hahn passed and Musquin just managed to rejoin the race in front of fourth place Lance Vincent.
Hahn wasn’t settling for second and pushed Wharton but each time he got close enough for a pass he wobbled. Wharton didn’t break under the pressure – taking his first checkers of 2013.
Finishing ahead of Musquin gave Hahn an extended Championship points lead and with just two events to go the Frenchman needs to get back on top of the podium at the next round in Minneapolis.
