Ken Roczen got the improvement he was looking for as he took round four of the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross in the O.co Coliseum at Oakland, California.
In the 450 main event Ryan Villopoto seized his second win in a row with an imperious display – taking the holeshot and leaving many of his championship rivals to fall foul of a monster pileup.
TwoTwo Motorsports Honda’s Chad Reed and JGR Yamaha’s Josh Grant were the first to come together, followed by James Stewart (Yoshimura Suzuki) and Justin Barcia. But that wasn’t the end of it as Trey Canard and Ryan Dungey were also held up.
The incident will be one of the most rewound and watched again bits of racing all year, as fans try to figure out and then argue what and who was to blame for the carnage.
As for Villopoto, as you would expect, he went on to win and as he has done so many times before – make it look easy.
The championship leader, Davi Millsaps (Rockstar Energy Racing) was able to get himself into clean air with a comfortable second.
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey was left dealing with the mess from the second corner of the race, in which riders tumbled around him and his bike got pushed to the outside of the track.
He maintained his cool to move around fallen riders but was unable to avoid losing ground. He then had to open the throttle and work hard to get back in the top ten. By the halfway point Dungey had clawed into the top five, and started to make a move on the top riders. One lap later he passed Mike Alessi (MotoConcepts Suzuki) to move into fourth. Dungey caught Justin Brayton (Muscle Milk Honda), going inside him in a corner and leaving Brayton on the ground.
Brayton was quick to say that it was just a racing incident and that he didn’t hold any ill-will toward Dungey.
That leaves Davi Millsaps with the red plate for another week. Canard is seven points behind and in third Villopoto is eight points away from Millsaps.
250 SX class
Not quite as dramatic as the 450 main – the lites provided its own kind of drama as the win-streak of Eli Tomac came crashing to an end.
The GEICO Honda rider crashed early in the race but then hit the dirt again in the first set of whoops, leaving Tomac with a DNF.
Things went much better for Roczen. Although he didn’t have it all his own way as JDR J-Star KTM’s Joey Savatgy took the holeshot followed by Cole Seely, then Roczen in third.
Savatgy couldn’t hold the lead for long as Seely and Roczen rocketed past the rookie. The Red Bull KTM Factory rider started to close the gap on the leader. Then as they approached the finish line jump, Roczen made a mistake and landed on an inside tuff block. This launched him straight into the face of the finish line jump. He came right off the bike as he rolled over the jump but managed to stay in control, remounted and crucially, held onto second place.
The German teenager waited until three laps to go before making his move in a corner. He made it stick and once out in front he showed his class, building up an impressive gap. Behind him, Seely held on for second spot and Rockstar Suzuki’s Jason Anderson grabbed the last step on the podium.
With his first win of the 2013 season, Ken Roczen is now in front for the championship. This of course means that when the AMA Supercross series has the last visit to Angel Stadium for Anaheim 3 on February 2 – he will start with the coveted red plate.
2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross in the O.co Coliseum at Oakland, California Results:
2013 Oakland 450 SX
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)
2. Davi Millsaps (Suzuki)
3. Ryan Dungey (KTM)
4. Trey Canard (Honda)
5. Mike Alessi (Suzuki)
6. Andrew Short (Honda)
7. Matt Goerke (KTM)
8. Broc Tickle (Suzuki)
9. Vince Friese (Honda)
10. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)
2013 450 Supercross Championship Points
1. Davi Millsaps, 85
2. Trey Canard, 78
3. Ryan Villopoto, 77
4. Ryan Dungey, 68
5. Chad Reed, 65
6. Andrew Short, 56
7. Jake Weimer, 47
8. Justin Brayton, 42
9. Justin Barcia, 41
10. Matthew Goerke, 39
Oakland 250 SX
1. Ken Roczen (KTM)
2. Cole Seeley (Honda)
3. Jason Anderson (Suzuki)
4. Martin Davalos (Kawasaki)
5. Malcolm Stewart (KTM)
6. Joey Savatgy (KTM)
7. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)
8. Austin Politelli (Honda)
9. Christian Craig (Honda)
10. Zach Osborne (Honda)
11. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)
12. Travis Baker (Yamaha)
13. Jessy Nelson (Honda)
14. Chris Plouffe (Honda)
15. Jean Ramos (Kawasaki)
2013 250 Supercross West Championship Points
1. Ken Roczen, 91
2. Cole Seeley, 80
3. Eli Tomac, 76
4. Zach Osborne, 58
5. Jason Anderson, 52
6. Kyle Cunningham, 49
7. Martin Davalos, 48
8. Christian Craig, 47
9. Malcolm Stewart, 45
10. Tyla Rattray, 45
