Ryan Villopoto Earns Fifth Win of the Season

Apr. 14, 2014 By Scott Rousseau
Ryan Villopoto wins Seattle Supercross 

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto did all he could to wrap up his fourth consecutive Monster Energy 450cc Supercross Championship, but unfortunately the competition didn’t cooperate. Villopoto had a great race in front of his home crowd at Century Link Field in Seattle, Washington, collecting his 39th career 450cc AMA Supercross win on Saturday night. But Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart battled to earn the second-place spot to prevent Villopoto from clinching the title. Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey finished third.

Villopoto holds a 48-point lead over Stewart, which is just three points shy of what he would need to win the title if Stewart won the remaining two rounds and Villopoto failed to score a single point. Though he didn’t wrap up the title tonight, Villopoto will most likely clinch the series title when the series resumes at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in two weeks.

But it wasn’t an easy road for Villopoto, as he failed to transfer directly out of his heat race for the second week and had to gain access to the main event through a semi. In the main event, however Villopoto was unstoppable, as he pulled the holeshot and streaked away from the pack. Stewart quickly went to work chasing down Dungey, leaving the top three positions represented by current and former Monster Energy AMA Supercross champions.

Stewart was able to pass Dungey on lap four and set out after Villopoto. Stewart did give the crowd some excitement along the way, as he quad-jumped one of the rhythm sections, but this move would to be his undoing as he came up short and cased the landing on lap five, barely avoiding a crash. Up front, Villopoto had increased his margin of victory, which at the finish was over 12 seconds.

"We go to a lot of different stadiums and race in front of a lot of different crowds and people, but to come home and have a race like that in front of everybody who watched me grow up, that feel's good," Villopoto said. "This was definitely the loudest crowd that I've raced in front of that was backing me 100 percent."

James Stewart Seattle Supercreoss

Stewart was confident after the race in spite of not coming away with the win.

"The track was easy, so it was really easy to override it, but it was tough because of the ruts," Stewart said. "Ryan got the start on me, and I cased the quad one lap, just like, ridiculous. That took five brownie points away from me. I was trying to make time up through the whoops and stuff, but I just kept making mistakes. Just about halfway through the race I said, 'I'm going to hit the ground if I keep trying to do that.' I'm looking forward to the week off. This (second place) is not what we want, but we're still second in the points."

Dungey, who finished in the final podium spot, said that the track got really nasty in the main event.

"Toward the end there they started getting away," Dungey said. "I was tryin', man. I just really started falling apart. I was trying to switch up my lines and keep a good pace going. I gave it my all. That's all I can ask. You know I've got to keep building. I'll never not give it my all, so we'll keep working on it."

Cole Seely Seattle Supercross

So far in the 250cc Western Region this season, Justin Anderson has been the most dominant race, and if he could leave with his fifth win he could potentially clinch the West crown. Meanwhile, Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda's Cole Seely needed to beat Anderson to keep his own title hopes alive, and Seely was able to do that with a victory in the class.

"When I was behind Dean (Wilson), I just wanted to hang in there tight with him," Seely said. "He was going fast all day. I just wanted to sit in there and wait for him to make a mistake, and he made one right away. I was able to capture the lead pretty early on the first lap. The bike was just dialed-in great. We're still in this thing. One round to go…I'm just going to try my heart out and hope for the best."

Seattle Supercross Podium

Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series - Seattle Results
(Round 15 of 17)

450 Main
1. Ryan Villopoto-Kaw
2. James Stewart-Suz
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM
4. Eli Tomac-Hon
5. Justin Barcia-Hon
6. Trey Canard-Hon
7. Ken Roczen-KTM
8. Andrew Short-KTM
9. Josh Hill-Suz
10. Mike Alessi-Suz
11. Weston Peick-Suz
12. Chris Blose-Hon
13. Nick Wey-Kaw
14. Nick Schmidt-Hon
15. Kyle Regal-Hon
16. Killian Rusk-Yam
17. Ronnie Stewart-Suz
18. Phil Nicoletti-Yam
19. Tevin Tapia-Suz
20. Cody Gilmore-Kaw
21. Vince Friese-Yam
22. Bracken Hall-Hon

Points Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto-318/5 wins
2. James Stewart-270/5 wins
3. Ryan Dungey-267/1 win
4. Ken Roczen-249/2 wins
5. Justin Barcia-214
6. Justin Brayton-196
7. Andrew Short-194
8. Broc Tickle-126
9. Joshua Hill-124
10. William Hahn-122

250 Main Results
1. Cole Seely-Hon
2. Jason Anderson-KTM
3. Justin Hill-Kaw
4. Dean Wilson-Kaw
5. Jessy Nelson-Hon
6. Zach Osborne-Hon
7. Cooper Webb-Yam
8. Jake Canada-Hon
9. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
10. Shane Mcelrath-Hon
11. Michael Leib-Hon
12. Dakota Tedder-Kaw
13. Scott Champion-Yam
14. Preston Mull-Yam
15. Chris Howell-Yam
16. Aaron Siminoe-Kaw
17. Chad Gores-Hon
18. Zackery Freeberg-Yam
19. Ross Johnson-Hon
20. Collin Jurin-Kaw
21. Ryder Steffy-Kaw
22. Johnny Jelderda-Hon

AMA 250cc West Points Standings (After 7 of 8 rounds)
1. Jason Anderson-178/4 wins
2. Cole Seely-170/2 wins
3. Justin Hill-139/1 win
4. Dean Wilson-138/1 win
5. Cooper Webb-121
6. Malcolm Stewart-121
7. Jessy Nelson-103
8. Zach Osborne-100
9. Shane Mcelrath-96
10. Jake Canada-72


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