we might just be the little people. But we have a voice! Green arrow has learned to whip! After four races without properly getting into it, ol Green has finally decided to turn on the style...
This weekend, the Supercross returns to Anaheim in California for the third time and fingers crossed, all the riders will be able to make it past the first corner without a massive bundle. Letss also hope that someone like Barcia or Millsaps will be able to nip another Villopoto whitewash at the bud.
Anaheim III takes place on 2nd February. Be sure to tune in*
There are certainly many valid claims to the legitimacy of it, but two-times champion Ryan Villopoto picked up his fourth win of the 2013 championship with another commanding victory at St.Louis.
Anyone who might question whether a Supercross race is exciting enough would have been duly silenced after the events on Saturday. St Louis had it all: crashes, restarts, intense racing and a couple of suspicious acts of rule breaking...
First things first. After a nasty accident between Kyle Chisholm and Matt Goerke on lap 3 (see the first video), the race was restarted with a not-often-seen single file line. With James Stewart having led the race up until that point, he sat at the front of the queue. Ryan Villopoto (who already seemed to avoid a wrist slapping for jumping while a medical flag was out) sat back in 6th.
It wasnt a position he would stay in for long as both Villopoto and Chad Reed quickly work their way past Mike Alessi (who started in 3rd), to start chasing down Justin Barcia in 2nd. Villopoto then muscles Reed out of 3rd before the end of lap five.
By lap eight, everything started to kick off: Barcia was sat on Stewarts tail, with Villopoto hot on the heels of Barcia. By lap 10, RV had overtaken Barcia and was swapping the lead with Stewart multiple times over the next couple of laps. At one point, both Ryan Villopoto and Justin Barcia sit ahead of James Stewart but Barcia tags a tuff block on lap 13 which allows Stewart, Reed and - from out of nowhere - Ryan Dungey to get past, pushing Barcia back to 5th.
With five laps left to go, we are shown a replay of VIllopoto passing Stewart on a yellow flag but it seems that the race officials let the Monster Energy riders second infraction slide.
So, by the end of the race, RV takes a big chunk out of Millsaps points lead (Davi finished back in 6th) and Ryan Dungey sits as a quiet threat in 3rd. There are seven races still to go, but Villopoto is showing that he wont let anything get in his way on his mission for a third championship title.
ST LOUIS RESULTS
1st Ryan Villopoto 2nd James Stewart 3rd Chad Reed 4th Ryan Dungey 5th Justin Barcia 6th Davi Millsaps 7th Mike Alessi 8th Trey Canard 9th Justin Brayton 10th Andrew Short
2013 SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st David Millsaps 189 2nd Ryan Villopoto 177 3rd Ryan Dungey 166 4th Trey Canard 148 5th Chad Reed 147 6th Justin Barcia 132 7th James Stewart 122 8th Andrew Short 113 9th Justin Brayton 103 10th Broc Tickle 87
People have been comparing this years Supercross to the 2012 F1 season and its easy to see why: after five rounds there have been four different riders standing at the top spot of the podium. Back-to-back wins from Ryan Villopoto had us fearing the start of another RV whitewash Anheim III saw Ryan Dungey emerge as the winner.
Dungey had an appalling time in the qualifying heat races, but the main event looked like a walk in the park. Even with Justin Brayton picking up the Holeshot and Mike Alessi leading the first lap, Dungey had established a place out front by lap 2, made easier thanks to Alessi falling on a corner sortly after he was overtaken. It was a lead that he carried through to the checkered flag without much in the way of a threat from the riders behind him.
While Dungey will be pleased with his solid performance, Chad Reed seems to be continuing his run of back luck, thanks to another multi-rider accident on the third corner of the first lap that took both Brayton and Ryan Villopoto out of contention. Reed managed to salvage 16 points by the end of the race but Villopoto had to settle with an 8th place.
Fans of James Stewart finally had something to cheer about with his best performance of the championship so far, who was riding in 2nd place until lap 13 when he had to give up places to a determined Davi Millsaps (who keeps the red plate and now boasts a 14 point lead) and Justin Barcia who snatched a place back on the podium after a couple of races sat out thanks to accidents.
Were just under a third of the way through the 2013 championship and we still dont think anyone could confidently pick who will be champion. Roll on San Diego!
With all the unpredictability in the Supercross of late, Ryan Villopoto delivered a dose of the familiar with a confident win for round 3 of the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross Championship at Anaheim II.
The race started with a holeshot from Jake Weimer, chased by last weekends winner, Justin Barcia. However, an uncomfortable landing in the rhythm section sees Barcia taking fall back through the field. His fate was sealed in lap 4 after casing the triple and smashing his face badly on the handlebars. A face filled covered in blood means a very understandable trip to the medical unit.
Before the end of lap 4, Trey Canard is leading the race, followed by Millsaps who is clearly trying to prove that his performance at the very start of the season was no fluke.
By lap 5, a hard-charging Poto storms past Millsaps with an aggressive pass and has hunted down Canard by lap 6. Even though RV steams into the lead, everyone is still got huge respect for Canard, who, this time last year, broke him back in an accident that still turns our stomach when we watch it. If he could finish on the podium then that would still be an incredible achievement.
By lap 12, Villopoto has extended his lead to nearly 7 seconds, with Millsaps and Reed duking it out for 3rd. Although Reed snatches the position on lap 15, Millsaps quickly reclaims it back only to slide out on a corner before the end of lap 17, gifting a podium place Chad Reed.
While this is going on, the much-maligned James Stewart falls on a corner where he cant put his busted knee out for support. He will eventually finish down in 12th.
There are no last minute changes over the final few laps. Canard stops RV from extend his lead any further to keep second and Chad Reed finishes 3rd in front of Millsaps who will still hang onto the red plate in Oakland thanks to a slender 3 point lead on the championship table.
It was only recently that we praised the Dirt Shark videos for keeping it real and giving viewers an authentic insight into the atmosphere during a Supercross weekend. This video from Phoenix, however, sorta blows. Well, at least a third of it does. So, skip about two and a half minutes past the lame robbing a grocery store to steal some Monster skit and get straight to the Supercross action.
Then you can witness Windhams (even more awesome than normal) pre-race transfer jump, catch some behind-the-scenes chat with the riders, as well as some words from the winners Tomac and Barcia. Plus, of course, a bit of girl ogling too. Much better.
So, stop trying so hard to be cool, Dirt Shark. We already liked you.
Did you get the chance to watch Round 15 of the Supercross this weekend? If not, then this video is for you. Did Villopoto continue to dominate? Did Millsaps claw back any points? Did Chad Reed catch a break? Youll have to watch to find out.
