The gloves are off!
Ryan Villopoto took his third win of the season in what was the best race of the year at round six in San Diego.
Villopoto is the perfect combination of Chad Reed and James Stewart so far this season. He races smart and makes good decisions like Reed, but he also has that raw speed and ability to pass you in a revolving door like Stewart.
Villopoto and Reed battled hard through the back markers at the end of the race, Reed making the move as they sliced therr way through the slower traffic and it was only a very aggressive move by Villopoto, diving up the inside of Reed, that got him the win with a lap to go. Villopoto demanded the win, and he got it.
Reed, the fastest man in the whoops all night, has vowed to step up his own aggressiveness at Dallas to match Villopoto and doesn't want to lose the fight this week. Reed is just six points behind Villopoto and, at the moment, these two are started to seperate themselves from the rest of the field.
Ryan Dungey was a distant third, after struggling in the whoops section all night long, but he was finally back on the podium. However, you can bet KTM will be working hard to rectify the whoop problem for the remaining rounds to keep Dungey in with a shout in the championship.
The positive about Anahiem for Dungey was that he finally showed some aggression when he left Jake Weimar on the floor in a bid to stay with the leader at the beginning of the race. Dungey is only ten points back but will want to start reasserting himself by fighting for the win in the coming weeks.
While Dungey rode smart, James Stewart did not. Stewart crashed big time in the aforementioned whoops section while in third. He was trying to catch the leading duo of RV and Reed but it all went wrong in the whoops on lap seven and, with his leg stuck on the bike when he finally came to rest, Stewart was a lap down by the time he got going. He is now 38 points back in the series.
This puts Stewart in a must win situation that is even greater than the must win situation he was in before. When Stewart was in third he was looking at being nineteen points down if Villopoto won, he had to push hard and it bit him, now he absolutely has to go on the winning run he claimed he could a couple of rounds ago or this championship is over.
The problem is, as Steve Mathes eluded too, James still thinks he is the main man in the class, he won't accept the fact the other three are just as good as him now. That seems to be a mental block that isn't helping his cause, and in part could be the cause of a lot of his crashes.
Anahiem could just have lit the blue touch paper on the series, and the fans in Dallas could be the first to see the all out brawl that everyone has been waiting for.
Just as the West looked to be heading towards an obvious conlusion Eli Tomac blew it wide open again when he crashed hard in the whoops finishing a crushed twentieth place and handing the points lead to the victorious Dean Wilson.
Wilson went into the race just to have fun and he showed what he could do when he was relaxed, the battle between him and Tomac should go down to the wire now, but we have yet to see them go head to head this season.
Cole Seeley is only fifteen points back, and Marvin Musquin could easily have been in the points lead himself if it wasn't for two unlucky crashed this season, the latest coming on Saturday night when he was an innocent victim o an out of control Tomac early in the race. Give Marvin fifth place on those two nights and he would be right there with Wilson and Tomac.
Musquin will now race some 350 rounds as the Regional series heads east, which means a whole new championship to watch!
Barcia, Roczen, Baggett, Bogle, Stewart, Durham... just some of the heavy hitters who will be lining up to do battle at Dallas this weekend.
But the main battle that has everyone talking is Justin Barcia v Ken Roczen. Barcia does not like Roczen ever since they met at Lorretta Lynns years ago, and Roczen thinks Barcia's overly aggressive style is a waste of time and energy. The wild riding American defending supercross champion v the smart and calcutated German World Champion could be the highlight of the series.
Can Roczen take it to Barcia on his home turf? Time will tell, but Roczen is coming off a recent broken wrist and he could take time to get up to speed. Roczen won't back down if he is challenged by Barcia, he will give as good as he gets if Barcia tries to do his usual intimidatary take out tactics. Barcia you can be sure will not want the younger, and already more successful German beating him.
Check out the link to see what Ken has to say about the upcoming 2012 season, and coming back from a broken wrist.... Ken Roczen on racing East Coast Supercross
The guy who might just smoke them both is Blake Baggett. On raw speed Baggett can win any weekend, anywhere, but it his when he has a bad night that he has to minimise the damage, if he can do that he will be hard to beat.
Add in super fast rookie Justin Bogle and the raw talents of Durham and Stewart you can guarentee excitement and probably some take outs... with Justin Barcia almost certain to be involved somewhere along the line! This series will be explosive!
Friday 17 February 2012
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Oakland lookback, A2 preview...
It's on now!
The big four have all now won a race each in the opening four rounds. The two most consistent guys are predictably Dungey and Reed, and they both lead the points. Villopoto, the fastest guy in the class, hasn't seen the lead since A1, sits only two points back.
The big news is James Stewart, the most inconsistant of the main guys, finally took the win everyone has been expecting since A1. He passed early leader Reed on lap ten after holding off a vicious attack for the opening ten laps from Ryan Villopoto. Stewart should now have the confidence everyone else doesn't want him to have, but then again, do they really fear him like they did four or five years ago?
James might have given himself a confidence boost, as well as the team, but will the other guys confidence really take a knock? Villopoto caught him in his heat and was all over him in the main until he got tight trying (and failing ) to pass Chad Reed.
Right now everyone of those guys believe they can and will win the next race, and that is what makes Anahiem two just as exciting, if not more so, than A2. The first guy to win two in a row could get a big boost in momentum, and Stewart, via Ralph Shaheen has already stated he thinks that he can get on a wining run ala 2009 and reclaim this championship!
Those are pretty big boasts coming out of Stewart, especially as so far, he is the one most likely to faulter! Is this the kind of expectant over confidence that, when it doesn't materialise, James will panic and crash, or, is this the confidence that will take him to this title? These comments put James in the unique situation of the four guys, he doesn't know how to lose, and genuinely believes that nobody can touch him when he is riding well.
The other guys however, can accept defeat, it doesn't mean they like it, but they won't overextend themselves trying to win every race from here on out. They have mentally accepted they will lose some and win some, and understand that it is maximising the points in races they lose as well as maximising the opportunities when they win.
That is why Reed, Dungey and RV are all within three points of each other despite all contending with bad starts throughout the year.
Exhibit A, this weekend was Ryan Dungey. The points leader had a terrible start despite winning his heat race, but he worked his way up to fourth position without any major moments and leaves tied for the points lead. Chad Reed did the same thing in Phoenix, and RV did it at rounds two and three. James on the other hand has crashed while trying to do it and ended up twelve points back.
So yes, James Stewart can win, in fact he is so talented, it is hard not for him to win some races every season. But the question remains, can he lose? When you tell the CBS commentator that you can get on a run of wins, when clearly not being the fastest guy (prior to his Oakland win) you set yourself a standard that is extremely hard to reach in a field with three other title contenders who are not one bit intimated or overawed by his blistering one lap speed. They broke him last year, and think they can break him again.
So, can James Stewart's predictions come true, or will recent history prove to be more accurate? The answers could start appearing this Saturday night.
RV will want to win this one bad, he clearly felt he let Oakland get away despite being so fast. Reed was not happy at getting second when he had the holeshot, and has publicly stated his desire to get more wins this season, Ryan Dungey won't want to be left out of the battle like he was last Saturday and lose his points lead. Combine all that motivation with Stewart's mindset that he can go on a run of wins and reclaim this championship, and you have a four majorly motivated title contenders this weekend.
Anahiem two could prove massive for the momentum of this series. I can't wait (to read all bout it on twitter).
The big four have all now won a race each in the opening four rounds. The two most consistent guys are predictably Dungey and Reed, and they both lead the points. Villopoto, the fastest guy in the class, hasn't seen the lead since A1, sits only two points back.
The big news is James Stewart, the most inconsistant of the main guys, finally took the win everyone has been expecting since A1. He passed early leader Reed on lap ten after holding off a vicious attack for the opening ten laps from Ryan Villopoto. Stewart should now have the confidence everyone else doesn't want him to have, but then again, do they really fear him like they did four or five years ago?
James might have given himself a confidence boost, as well as the team, but will the other guys confidence really take a knock? Villopoto caught him in his heat and was all over him in the main until he got tight trying (and failing ) to pass Chad Reed.
Right now everyone of those guys believe they can and will win the next race, and that is what makes Anahiem two just as exciting, if not more so, than A2. The first guy to win two in a row could get a big boost in momentum, and Stewart, via Ralph Shaheen has already stated he thinks that he can get on a wining run ala 2009 and reclaim this championship!
Those are pretty big boasts coming out of Stewart, especially as so far, he is the one most likely to faulter! Is this the kind of expectant over confidence that, when it doesn't materialise, James will panic and crash, or, is this the confidence that will take him to this title? These comments put James in the unique situation of the four guys, he doesn't know how to lose, and genuinely believes that nobody can touch him when he is riding well.
The other guys however, can accept defeat, it doesn't mean they like it, but they won't overextend themselves trying to win every race from here on out. They have mentally accepted they will lose some and win some, and understand that it is maximising the points in races they lose as well as maximising the opportunities when they win.
That is why Reed, Dungey and RV are all within three points of each other despite all contending with bad starts throughout the year.
Exhibit A, this weekend was Ryan Dungey. The points leader had a terrible start despite winning his heat race, but he worked his way up to fourth position without any major moments and leaves tied for the points lead. Chad Reed did the same thing in Phoenix, and RV did it at rounds two and three. James on the other hand has crashed while trying to do it and ended up twelve points back.
So yes, James Stewart can win, in fact he is so talented, it is hard not for him to win some races every season. But the question remains, can he lose? When you tell the CBS commentator that you can get on a run of wins, when clearly not being the fastest guy (prior to his Oakland win) you set yourself a standard that is extremely hard to reach in a field with three other title contenders who are not one bit intimated or overawed by his blistering one lap speed. They broke him last year, and think they can break him again.
So, can James Stewart's predictions come true, or will recent history prove to be more accurate? The answers could start appearing this Saturday night.
RV will want to win this one bad, he clearly felt he let Oakland get away despite being so fast. Reed was not happy at getting second when he had the holeshot, and has publicly stated his desire to get more wins this season, Ryan Dungey won't want to be left out of the battle like he was last Saturday and lose his points lead. Combine all that motivation with Stewart's mindset that he can go on a run of wins and reclaim this championship, and you have a four majorly motivated title contenders this weekend.
Anahiem two could prove massive for the momentum of this series. I can't wait (to read all bout it on twitter).
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