Ryan Dungey took his third win of the season...and KTM's third-ever 450 Supercross victory. Photo: Hoppenworld
In the 450 class, KTM’s Ryan Dungey won his third AMA Supercross of 2012 in Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium. Meanwhile in ther 250 West, Geico Honda’s Eli Tomac clinched the first-ever Championship by winning his fourth main event of the season.
In the 450 main Davi Millsaps took his fourth holeshot of the season, moving him ahead of everyone in that category. Dungey was close on the start, but by the end of the firtst lap Jalke Weimer had moved into second...where he stayed until Ryan Dungey passed him for the spot on lap eight. Weimer responded causing Dungey to go down. Ryan Dungey got up, regrouped and set out to avenge what happened. This was bad news for both second place Weimer and leader Millsaps. Amazingly Dungey motored to the front, passing both Weimer and with two laps to go, Millsaps. Davi led 18 laps and it would have been sweet for JGR, Yamaha and Toyota had Millaps hung on for the win–but he made a mistake late and got passed by Dungey.
“It was great racing out there tonight, and I really dug deep,” said Dungey. “I didn’t see the pass coming and that was my fault. My front wheel got a barrier in the corner and I went down. My focus was to run him down, and I did. I had a tough part of the middle of the season, and I knew I had the speed tonight. I just needed to be patient.”
Millsaps’ quest to hold down the number-two position in the 450 point standings is going well. He remains 7 points in front of Honda’s Justin Brayton with one race to go. Brayton was fourth in Salt Lake City. Last week’s winner Andrew Short was seventh. Bobby Kiniry was ninth.
The 450 rider turnout was weak...only 44 rider. Which meant that the AMA sent 4 riders home. The starting gate holds 22 riders (but they only start 20 riders). Perhaps they should have used those two extra gates in circumstances like these. Those four extra riders could have been seeded into the outside of the start line in the heat races. If Feld wants the privateers to keep coming they need to be pro-active. Riders driving 1500 miles for a couple of timed practice laps is why they won't go to either Seattle or Salt Lake. Supercross needs riders, but they don't act like they care about privateers. The AMA rule book is bent all the time to satisfy what the factory teams want, so they could have held 22-man heat races under these special circumstances. But, the rules are written in stone for privateers...just not factory riders.
250 WEST SHOWDOWN AMID A LOW RIDER TURNOUT
Surprise! There weren’t enough 250 West rider to fill two gates in the heat race. Every 250 rider who came to Salt Lake made the night program and there were empty gates in every heat race and the Last Chance.
Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Jason Anderson took the holeshot in the 250 West main event with Marvin Musquin in second and Dean Wilson in third.
Wilson quickly passed Musquin while Eli Tomac moved into third place. Tomac stalked Wilson for several laps before making the pass for second on Lap 8. It didn’t take long for Tomac to cut into Anderson’s lead and make the race-winning pass on lap 10. A dramatic turn of events happened on Lap 12 of 15 when Wilson, who came into tonight’s race only four points behind Wilson, suffered a huge crash that forced him to withdraw from the race. As a result, Tomac scored enough points to clinch the championship. Tomac takes a 27 pioint lead into the final race in Las Vegas...where only 25 points are up for grabs.
Anderson and Davalos earned career-best results, finishing second and third, respectively. Wil Hahn was fourth, Marvin Musquin fifth, Matt Moss sixth, Billy Laninovich seventh and Topher Ingalls eighth.
“It was huge to close out the night with a race win and a championship,” said Tomac. “That was some good racing out there. Off the gate I got bumped around and was able to slowly pick guys off and try to pace. I did my best not to do anything stupid. That was the best way to do it.”
The final race of the AMA Supercross Championship takes place next Saturday, May 5, at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.
WHAT ITS LIKE TO LEAD AN AMA 250 SUPERCROSS BY JASON ANDERSON
RESULTS: 250 CLASS
1. Eli Tomac...Hon
2. Jason Anderson...Suz
3. Martin Davalos...Suz
4. Wil Hahn...Hon
5. Marvin Musquin...KTM
6. Matt Moss...KTM
7. Billy Laninovich...Hon
8. Topher Ingalls...Hon
9. Vince Friese...Hon
10. Scott Champion...Hon
11. Killy Rusk...Hon
12. Landen Powell...Hon
13. Preston Tilford...Hon
14. Beau Hudson...Kaw
15. Chris Plouffe...Hon
16. Ryan Sipes...Yam
17. Myles Tedder...Kaw
18. Travis Bright...Hon
19. Dean Wilson...Kaw
20. Collin Jurin...Suz
TOP FIVE FASTEST 250 QUALIFIERS
1. Marvin Musquin...47.129
2. Dean Wilson...47.303
3. Martin Davalos...47.597
4. Wil Hahn...47.600
5. Eli Tomac...47.682
AMA 250 WEST SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
(After 8 of 9 races)
1. Eli Tomac...159
2. Dean Wilson...132
3. Marvin Musquin...127
4. Cole Seely...119
5. Jason Anderson...95
6. Matt Moss...92
7. Billy Laninovich...84
8. Ryan Sipes...83
9. Nico Izzi...78
10. Travis Baker...75
11. Vince Friese...73
12. Martin Davalos...71
13. Zach Osborne...67
14. Tyla Rattray...60
15. Max Anstie...53
The Salt Lake 450 podium – Ryan Dungey (center), Jake Weimer (left) and Davi Millsaps (right). Photo Hoppenworld
RESULTS: 450 CLASS
1. Ryan Dungey...KTM
2. Davi Millsaps...Yam
3. Jake Weimer...Kaw
4. Justin Brayton...Hon
5. Mike Alessi...Suz
6. Broc Tickle...Kaw
7. Andrew Short...Hon
8. Josh Grant...Kaw
9. Bobby Kiniry...Yam
10. Tyler Bowers...Kaw
11. Matthew Goerke...Suz
12. Weston Peick...Yam
13. Nick Wey...Kaw
14. Gavin Faith...Yam
15. Jason Thomas...Suz
16. Chris Blose...Kaw
17. Kyle Chisholm...Kaw
18. Jimmy Albertson...Suz
19. Kyle Regal...Kaw
20. Brett Metcalfe...Suz
HOW I WON THE SALT LAKE CITY SUPERCROSS BY RYAN DUNGEY
TOP FIVE FASTEST 450 QUALIFIERS
1. Ryan Dungey...47.110
2. Jake Weimer...47.320
3. David Millsaps...47.577
4. Broc Tickle...47.826
5. Nick Wey...48.089
HOW I LOST THE SALT LAKE CITY SUPERCROSS BY DAVI MILLSAPS
HOW I OVERTHOUGHT THE SALT LAKE CITY SUPERCROSS BY JAKE WEIMER
AMA 450 SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
(After 16 or 17 races)
1. Ryan Villopoto...323
2. Davi Millsaps...244
3. Justin Brayton...237
4. Ryan Dungey...232
5. Jake Weimer...211
6. Mike Alessi...192
7. James Stewart...178
8. Brett Metcalfe...174
9. Kevin Windham...166
10. Broc Tickle...161
11. Kyle Chisholm...143
12. Chad Reed...128
13. Andrew Short...114
14. Nick Wey...105
15. Bobby Kiniry...91
|
|