Toronto’s Rogers Centre hosted the 12th round of the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship on Saturday night. More than 48,000 Canadians packed into the downtown covered stadium and were treated to a great night of racing from the top stars in supercross – including a masterclass in speed from a supercross champion.
All the Championship chasers got out the gate clean but Chad Reed had the lead by the second corner.
On Reed’s back wheel, Ryan Villopoto and Davi Millsaps went bar-to-bar – by the third corner Millsaps had just pulled ahead of Villopoto and he then pushed Reed wide.
Reed held off Millsaps but just into lap two Millsaps found his way past and Villopoto soon followed.
Ryan Dungey held fourth and was keeping Reed under pressure, while James Stewart didn’t let up on Dungey.
By lap four Dungey had caught and passed Reed – he then quickly pulled away and began to work on catching the lead riders.
At the halfway mark there was a three-way battle for the lead between Millsaps, Villopoto and Dungey.
Two-time champion Villopoto just wouldn’t let up and with ten laps to go he finally made a move on Millsaps and he made it stick.
Within a few corners Dungey tried to make an inside pass on Millsaps, but he stalled and lost a position to Reed. It only took Dungey another lap to catch Reed and pass him again for third but he was too far back to move up the podium.
Stewart had the fastest lap in the heats and had been riding the Main Event smooth but he just didn’t have the speed to go with it. Last week we heard Stewart talk in his video blog about his stall error but with three laps to go in Toronto, Stewart stalled again and he dropped back to seventh.
The last few laps of the race went without any further changes in position. That gave Villopoto his seventh win of the 2013 season and 31st of his career.
Villopoto said: “It was unbelievable.
“Davi is riding really well and he was riding exceptionally well. I got around him with about halfway to go and I was able to get a little bit of a gap. Everybody up here [on the podium] is unbelievable and it shows how fast we really are when we run a pace like that on a track that was so [difficult].”
Red Bull KTM’s Dungey wasn’t able to catch Millsaps after his stall – giving the Rockstar Suzuki rider his first podium finish since a third place effort in Atlanta four races ago.
“It was definitely a good race,” said Millsaps. “I got off to a pretty good start and I just tried to ride my own race as much as I could. I made a lot of mistakes here and there, and throughout the first half of the race. Ryan eventually got by me and I did the best I could to keep up and do whatever I could.”
Villopoto now has a 12 point lead over Millsaps going into the 13th race of the season. Dungey sits 22 points out of the lead in third.
450 SX class video
250 SX class
The 250 class was missing Dean Wilson after his bad crash at Indy last week. The good news is that the British rider is back at his Florida home and hopefully he’s following doctors orders.
On the track in Toronto, Red Bull KTM’s Musquin delivered another rocket start to pull the holeshot, followed by privateer Honda rider Jimmy DeCotis and Slaton Racing’s Vince Friese.
Both Rockstar Energy Racing’s Blake Wharton and GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn, Musquin’s main championship rivals, started inside the top five and began to work their way forward.
On Lap 2, DeCotis crashed out of second, allowing both Wharton and Hahn to gain a position on the track.
Before long, Wharton and Hahn began to battle for second, which helped Musquin extend his lead. On Lap 6, Hahn made the move for the position and attempted to catch Musquin out front.
At the halfway point he had already pulled a four second lead, which he held for the duration of the race. This race marked his third straight victory of the season.
Prior to the 2013 season, Musquin had never won a Monster Energy AMA Supercross Main Event, but now he has won three in-a-row and is closing in on the lead in the championship.
“Today my confidence wasn’t so much there because I had a crash [in practice],” said Musquin. “But I really need to thank the team, because they are better than me and helped push me tonight. It was a tough day. I had a great start [in the Main Event] and it’s such a good feeling when you’re hurting because you don’t know what’s going to happen. It was great.”
Hahn, the current championship leader, minimised the damage done to his lead in the standings by finishing second.
Wharton held off a late charge by MyPlash/Metal Mulisha/Star Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin to finish third.
“I need to get my starts back, it’s killing me right now,” said Hahn. “I’ve got to turn my brain back on and I’ve got to get back on that top step [of the podium] where I belong.”
Hahn’s lead in the Eastern Regional Championship now sits at six points over Musquin as both riders search for their first career Monster Energy Supercross titles.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross will take a short Easter break next weekend but returns on Saturday, April 6 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
250 SX class video
2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Toronto Results
2013 Toronto 450 SX
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)
2. Davi Millsaps (Suzuki)
3. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
4. Chad Reed (Honda)
5. Justin Barcia (Honda)
6. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki)
7. James Stewart (Suzuki)
8. Broc Tickle (Suzuki)
9. Andrew Short (KTM)
10. Matt Goerke (KTM)
11. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)
12. Phil Nicoletti (Yamaha)
13. Josh Hill (Suzuki)
14. Ben LaMay (Yamaha)
15. Bobby Kiniry (Yamaha)
2013 450 Supercross Championship Points
1. Ryan Villopoto, 252
2. Davi Millsaps, 240
3. Ryan Dungey, 230
4. Chad Reed, 196
5. Justin Barcia, 184
6. James Stewart, 169
7. Trey Canard, 165
8. Andrew Short, 148
9. Justin Brayton, 122
10. Broc Tickle, 122
2013 Toronto 250 SX East
1. Marvin Musquin (KTM)
2. Wil Hahn (Honda)
3. Blake Wharton (Suzuki)
4. Jeremy Martin (Yamaha)
5. Cole Thompson (Honda)
6. Vince Friese (Honda)
7. James Decotis (Honda)
8. Gavin Faith (Honda)
9. Jackson Richardson (Honda)
10. Kyle Peters (Honda)
11. Peter Larsen (Yamaha)
12. AJ Catanzaro (Kawasaki)
13. Lance Vincent (KTM)
14. Levi Kilbarger (Honda)
15. Zack Freeberg (Honda)
2013 250 Supercross East Championship Points
1. Wil Hahn, 134
2. Marvin Musquin, 128
3. Blake Wharto, 108
4. Dean Wilson, 87
5. Vince Friese, 80
6. Kyle Peters, 78
7. Jeremy Martin, 71
8. Justin Hill, 68
9. Gavin Faith, 66
10. James Decotis, 66
