Racer X Race Report: Oakland
Sunday, January 30, 2011 | 5:30 AM
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It was a gnarly track, coated with rain and ruts, and filled with the toughest set of whoops seen all year. With such challenging circumstances at Monster Energy Supercross’ return to Oakland Coliseum, the race would seem to favor those who could ride smart and consistent, and simply not throw it away.
Hard to believe that San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha’s James Stewart would be in that category. He reverted back to his old tricks and crashed all over the place in practice. He crashed hard in the free practice and again in the first timed practice, and he was so beat up that he chose to simply skip the final timed session altogether. And last week in Los Angeles, Stewart said he should have won the race, but a crash while leading cost him.
Crazy heat race action like this set the scene for the main.
Milan photo
With all of that in mind, Monster Energy Kawaski’s Ryan Villopoto looked like the favorite. He was simply blazing in practice, and looked unstoppable once he got into the lead in the main.
But this week, it’s Villopoto who will go home feeling like this was the one that got away. Villopoto crashed while leading in the same exact way Stewart did last week—he lost the front end in a berm. Stewart sailed past and made it look pretty easy after that.
The roles reversed quickly, and now Villopoto can spend the week thinking he should have won, true or not.
Villopoto went into the main with confidence. A pair of crashes cost him a chance at victory.
Milan photo
But it may have been hard for even RV to stop Stewart once the evening began, as JS7 was over a second faster than anyone in his heat race times, and looked strong and solid throughout the main event. He left a crazy battle behind him, too, with TwoTwo Motorsports Bel-Ray Racing’s Chad Reed taking on Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan for second.
Stewart has won again.
Garth Milan
Dungey and Reed had good starts in the main and found themselves right behind Stewart when Villopoto went down. Stewart pulled away, but Villopoto caught back up to create a three-way battle. Then Villopoto crashed again—losing the front in a corner again--and Dungey edged away from Reed. It looked like the defending AMA SX Champ was ready to grab another runner-up finish, until Reed mounted a hard charge on the last five laps, catching and then passing Dungey in the final corner to steal second. It’s Reed’s first podium finish of the year, make even more impressive by tracking down Dungey when he could have simply settled for third.
Villopoto took a distant fourth. Brett Metcalfe sat fifth most of the race, until Trey Canard, coming back from an early crash, tracked him down to get into fifth. Metcalfe never let up, though, and managed to strike back and steal fifth back in the final corner, the same way Reed snagged second from Dungey.
The battle for second was this close at times,
Milan photo
So Stewart and Villopoto go on as the only race winners on the year, and there still doesn’t appear to be anyone quite on their pace. But sometimes it doesn’t matter who is fastest when consistency becomes the order of the day.
The Lites show favored consistency as well. When the new kids on the block—GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac and Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen—grabbed the early Oakland lead, it looked like a rookie race, But veterans Josh Hansen and Broc Tickle rolled up close on their Monster Pro Circuit Kawasakis to make up a four way battle. Tomac slid out and went down on the start straight, allowing Hansen to carve into the lead. Roczen put up a fight for awhile before Tickle moved into second. Tickle kept charging and then set up a beautiful block pass on Hansen to take the lead.
Top: Tomac tries to get away early
Above: Hansen and Roczen duked for the lead once Tomac fell.
Milan photos
Hansen had worn Tickle down for a few weekends, but this time Tickle stayed strong all the way to the end. Hansen took second with Tomac third.
Tickle (20) got a good start and waited for mistakes to make his move.
Milan photo
The race airs on CBS TV (SX class) at noon EST tomorrow and 6 p.m. EST (Lites).
Supercross Class Results
1. J. Stewart
2. C. Reed
3. R. Dungey
4. R. Villopoto
5. B. Metcalfe
6. T. Canard
7. K. Windham
8. D. Millsaps
9. A. Short
10. I. Tedesco
11. C. Blose
12. M. Boni
13. V. Friese
14. W. Peick
15. K. Chisholm
16. D. Reardon
17. K. Regal
18. J. Brayton
19. A. Stroupe
20. N. Wey
250 Results
1. B. Tickle
2. J. Hansen
3. E. Tomac
4. K. Roczen
5. T. Rattray
6. R. Morais
7. K. Cunningham
8. J. Decotis
9. B. Rutherford
10. R. Marmont
11. G. Steinke
12. B. Evans
13. N. Paluzzi
14. J. Canada
15. A. Balbi
16. M. Davalos
17. S. Champion
18. C. Hinson
19. T. Baker
20. C. Seely
Supercross Class Season Standings
1. James Stewart, Haines City, Fla., Yamaha – 92
2. Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki – 90
3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., Suzuki – 78
4. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda – 71
5. Chad Reed, Tampa, Fla., Honda – 70
6. Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Suzuki – 55
7. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM – 49
8. Kevin Windham, Centerville, Miss., Honda – 46
9. Justin Brayton, Cornelius, N.C, Yamaha – 39
10. Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha – 39
Supercross Lites Class Western Regional Season Standings
1. Josh Hansen, Elbert, Colo., Kawasaki – 88
2. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Kawasaki – 87
3. Ryan Morais, Murrieta, Calif., Suzuki – 70
4. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda – 69
5. Cole Seely, Corona, Calif., Honda – 60
6. Tyla Rattray, Wildomar, Calif., Kawasaki – 58
7. Ken Roczen, Mattstedt, Germany, KTM – 49
8. Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki – 45
9. Kyle Cunningham, Aledo, Texas, Yamaha – 44
10. Jimmy DeCotis, Peabody, Mass., Honda – 40
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What a season, We should be happy. I was trying to wait to see it on TV. but I had to look. Next year all live I hope.....
Believe the Hype! Go Alessi....wait, no main event?
Twoooo Twooooo!! All aboard.
That's the Reed train gaining momentum.
RacerX/ jason weigandt Thanks for having the report out early and the films on saturday. Interview the girl that holds the 30 second board one of these weekends. Thanks again.
Seeing the last pic looks like ole josh just loves rubbing up on guys! Stop trying to feel up other guys and you might become a racer that can actually be respected.
Glad to see BT get a win and only in the points hard this year.
Also its good to see that villo is as fast as i thought he was and he is serious about this championship and racing james, if not for him than no one would be. Dungey is obviously a joke and I have to say it just because when i use to root for reed thats all I ever heard, HE ONLY WON LAST YEAR BC THE COMPETITION WAS HURT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOLOOLOLOLOL
I tell you what, RV N BT, we will all remember you when Vegas comes around and we see who wins this thing. RV and Bubba certainly look like the favorites right now, but neither has finished a season healthy for quite some time now...Dungey on the otherhand is consistently putting himself on the box now. It won't be long before he wins one. It's a long season my friend, and conditioning plays a huge part in winning it all...we shall see.
Great seasons so far...........that's all I got to say about that! And RV N BT, you have to be some kid in his parents basement in his underwear typing away shit. Go away.
RD5 took him some time to get it going last year but came back. the guy is consistent and besides him and RV2are the only one that has challenged JS7 (last week in LA) really hope he can get it going soon enough or at least any one else but 22 or 7. those 2 need be more humble
When I scan the comments and read that "Dungey is a joke," I know I'm talking to the wrong people. Excuse me, I'm going to go watch the race and avoid dumbasses as much as possible.
Great race, way better coverage this time but still lacking. @Jason Weigandt you commented about a bigger audience on CBS then speed, but is that because of the MTV style coverage or simply because CBS has a larger viewing audience? I understand the need to promote and grow the sport but for me it sucks that to grow the sport the idea seems to be not to show the sport.
By that I mean you watch most other sport programming and they have a pre-race show to do all the media entertainment hype and then they show the main event complete. Obviously this doesn't happen with SX on CBS and only certain events on speed. They cut the sport for the fluff. I mean who would have preferred to see the second heat race over the Traxxis spotlight.
Easier said then done but if they had a dedicated 90min or 2hr programming spot (especially for the tape delayed events) they could should the complete races (heat & main) from both 450 & 250 as well as informative pieces about the sport and then add the MTV styled pieces.
anyway great races congrats to JS & CR
Did the idiot really say "Dungey is a joke"? Maybe the webmaster ought to just ban guys like RVNBT. Is he a WWF fan? Maybe I should be banned for commenting about such an idiot.
showing grown men playing with toys and more music dubbed crash clips than race coverage is a real shitty way of bringing us a race. I can understand lcq highlites but highlites of a heat also.. wtf.
Dungey is a joke??? Hahaha....u my friend are the joke!! Ur boy RV couldnt even catch Reed or Dungey, so idk why you are talking. Consistency...its a part of the sport.
way to go CR !!! ..i knew it was a matter of time..
it's a long season...
Great race and much better coverage, I wanna know where are all the haters today.. They are hidding, same thing happen to JS last week, but he was able to come back.. Enjoy the racing
Wow! That was a good race. If the top five racers can stay healthy the whole year we are truely in for a treat. Could be the best supercross season EVER
RV N BT what an outstanding vision you have of the sport....Keep it to yourself
@Jimmy yes where are all the haters. They were in full troll patrol last week. CBS coverage was pretty good this week. The weather kinda threw a monkey wrench in things this week but all the top riders were still very impressive. This week Villopoto got the lead and washed the front end just like James did last week. Ryan and Reed battled until the end. It's a long season and the championship is still up for grabs. James and RV are definitely the favorites.
I said it b4 last week. This is a JS or Dungey title. RV made a rookie mistake pushing it at this level. RV is fast but there's a reason JS has slowed down his pace. Notice once JS got the lead he has been slowing down the pace. You can look at the lap times. RD is riding smart too. This season, riding smart will get you the title and not who is fastest. Right now RV is riding balls out fast like the old JS. Sometimes it works but when it bites it takes away points. How about Reedy pass on last lap. Only experience can teach you that. RD is 14 points down but dont let that fool you.
Coverage was better-they blew the CR and RD battle at the end though..
Good race. Can we get through a race were RV2 or Stewie dontwash out the front end?? But Dungey and Reed battle was cool, too bad CBS would rather show the leader do a easy final lap than show the great battle between Reed and Dungey. Sorry production there. And too bad RV struggled, he had a rough main for sure. He didnt look comfortable in his heat race either. And why show Stewies boring heat race and highlights of a good one with a brand new heat race winner?? I know they want Stewie to be the media darling, but that heat was boring.. Stewie looked good, RV struggled on that track, Reed looked great, too bad he is done(all the haters said so), and Dungey looked O.K. but made a few dumb misstakes. Cant wait for next week..dgizzy, can you make a post without being so blatentley biased??? Stewie didnt slow nothing down, he got run down last week, face it. He looked good today in the main, but he isnt slowing down, the rest are picking it up..
if guys on here can bust on 7 all they want...then unfortunately the doosh above can say 'dungey is a joke'...even though i don't agree...
so, if a sponsored rider can't make the main for 2 weeks in a row can the team boot him?? Roger has to be disapointed
@bd200 You sound like you drank a big ole glass of haterade before you made your post. dgizzy was on point with what he said about Stewart. You are obviously the biased one. Anyone who knows Supercross and can make an unbiased evaluation of the season so far can clearly see that James has changed his riding style a little bit. He's not riding like a bat out of hell anymore. Stewart is riding at a smarter more controlled pace. He only gets hard on the throttle and starts charging full speed ahead when its necessary.
For example when he fell last week he chased down Canard and Dungy and if he had two more laps he would've caught RV. James is maturing and realizes that speed alone is not going to win you races and ultimately the championship. I think the rider who is the most consistent and puts together a string of wins will win the championship this season. Stewart, RV, and Dungy are looking like the favorites.
Maybe Alessi can start racing the WMA series. He MIGHT have a chance at a title. And no response required for obvious idiots on here. We are still only 4 races in. Dont count out a CR, or RD win. And Metcalfe got 6th in this field. Pretty damn good. I absolutely dislike Stewart, but I cant say that he sucks...at least not as a racer this year so far.
Actually RV was a little ways behind them and caught them quick, but couldnt make the pass before washing the front end, the rain played a big role in that race. RV2 still had the fastest main time, i wanna see a good race between the 2, not them constantly crashing
Good job DeCoster, got Southpark Kenny settled down, I think we will see him on the box soon. OMG, he trained Kenny! You Master! Hey Broc, you can still have that case of Blue Ribbon and mommies panties for beating Hansen.
I've never seen Bubba's World (and don't really care if I do), so maybe I don't understand the whole hating on JS7 thing, but say what you will, when he is focused and dialed in, he can do some pretty incredible things on a motorcycle. If not invented, he at least perfected many of the techniques all the top guys use. Looks like the bike is working well early this year and he's using the more-risk tricks in his bag for when he needs to, rather than when trying to pull out 20 or 30 second leads. My main question for him this year was his wrist, but that seems to be a non-issue.
MA800 looked like he was intentionally not qualifying for the main. He was basically letting riders by, but without actually giving them a hand signal to go ahead and take the inside line. What's up with that? Keep that up, and you can kiss your tattered career goodbye!
RV was on it also. It just might have been a track where aggression could bite you easier than usual. So far the Top 5 everyone talked about pre-season has got every podium and has stayed healthy. JS and RV seem to be separating themselves a bit, but early on, 2011 is rocking.
I will throw my 2 cents in lets just send Stewart and RV a tube of super glue for thier front tires ,lol hey they are pushing it that is all. Now I wanna say Reed is doing it on his own and I am proud of him. Yes he is a true privateer, As the famous Junny Ruhterford said about racing "Speed costs money how fast do you wanna go?" and Reed is doing it!
I think I might have seen something I haven't seen from RV yet this year. It appears to me that he definately has JS speed but last night he bit the bullet and showed some very smart racing. He probably could have passed CR and RD but he showed patience by not taking undo risk this week rather take it one week at a time. He is now 2pts down in a very young season. Sure he made a mistake, but he didn't do anything stupid to get back in the lead. Good for you RV. Stay healthy.
Well that was a sketch round. That track almost took out a good % of riders. Thank God everyone who crashed is alright. Stewart rode a really smart race last night. Hope RV can rebound this weekend.
Now can we all finally agree that Tony Alessi knows what's best for his only son Mike? When Tony is allowed within 500 yards of a race Mike makes the main. When Tony has a restraining order signed, sealed and delivered by The Man, Mike does not make the main.
Let Tony come out and play. Please.
*whew, can't believe I made that first triple paragraph without crashing.
Eric, in my opinion you are correct about JS. Anyone who has been watching him for several years should be able to see a slight change in his approach. It used to appear that if he found himself anywhere but up front, it was balls out to get back up there. He didn't seem to be ok with anything else, now it appears he has finally realized a famous phrase his #1 nemesis coined a couple years ago.....anyone remember "gotta be in it to win it"??? I think it use to be important for him to win by 20 or 30 seconds when he did win, and i'm pretty sure he now realizes that those big margins just are not gonna happen anymore!! Yes, where are all the haters this week. The fact remains, and i would bet the farm on it if i had one, that we are going to see a back and forth of winners every week, and i think some new one's are gonna pop in there real soon. I said last week to look out for Reed real soon. I actually love it that those two so-called "washed up" boys finished 1-2. Wish Brayton would turn awesome heat races in to a good main!!! Damn, who will it be next week?? This season rocks so far. Stay healthy gentleman. PLEASE!!!!
....and one more thing, i'm honestly not an over the top JS fan as i once was (yes, i still pull for him), and once again there were GREAT rides by all of the "Big 5" in one way or another. But, each and every week i'm gonna give credit wherever it's due.......CR, great ride and glad to see you on the box again (where you belong)......RV and RD had very solid rides, and i have to point out that JS goes out and gets a win after sitting out the whole second practice...that gets props also. Consistency?? As of now anyway, he is the only one of the "Big 5" to have been on the podium every week.......will it last???
Did you guys see how bad Stewart's start was? He was in 7-10th in the first turn and came out in second after a few turns. His early aggression got him out where he needed to be. Another great race. Points chase is tight. Can't wait for next weekend!
What is the deal? CBS can't afford a tissue for their camera lenses or what?one was so wet you could barely make out which riders you were watching.
Bummer for RV2.Have to admit JS7 did bring it this week.
We sat right in front of that dreaded rythm section and I gotta say, Man am I glad I don't race SX! These are the best rider on the planet and not one of them made it look easy!!!! and the whoops??? forget about it!!! That track was "GNAR MAX"!!!!
Wow!! Thanks for the eyewitness account "fancypants"....it's never easy to tell from a t.v. screen just how things really are....they said it was gnarly, and you verify it!!!
great race. horrible overall coverage.
main event race was presented okay. r.c. saved emig and r.s. butts bigtime.
ricky certainly brings some relevance and insight to the broadcasting team.
Again, a certain KTM didn't make the main. Hype without results is just BS.
Dear KTM, Perhaps you have forgotten but you do produce a 450cc machine. Perhaps its time to break that bad boy out? LOL
I'd like to be a fly on the wall at the Alessi house!! LOL
Oh and while I'm at it. Get rid of Emig and R.S. already, I'm tied of their endless regurgitation. I say RC and Jason W. would be a great replacement.
Some of you are talking about the coverage on CBS being better or just plain complaining about it- did the show actually air where you are? I'm on the east coast (RI) and instead of Supercross I waited patiently and got all set up Sunday morning at noon only to see the 700 club instead of the 450's, leaving me to have to read about what happened here having still not seen it. What's up with that? I don't think CBS does the best job covering, but see the point in attempting to expand the sport by showing it on basic tv, but I would have been happy to see anything yesterday!! Do they have to answer for not broadcasting when they were scheduled to??
Couple things, there are 2 users on youtube who upload the whole race pretty quickly (commercial free too) so you don't have to turn your schedule upside down to see the races.
Second, bring Bailey back to announce with a recently retired racer to go alongside. I seem to recall Langston filling in last year and surprisingly did a good job. I say recently retired because the speed and riding has changed so much over the years (especially in what I consider the scrub era) its nice to have someone who raced in that to go along with a legend like Bailey.
Langston is definitely well-spoken. I like Bailey and Weege. If the race was preempted in your area, it wasn't CBS; it was your local channel. Call or write and let them know you want to see SX. Tell your friends to do the same. As I've said before, CBS could improve on their presentation, but you guys ***** way too much. SX is NOT the NFL, NBA, or MLB ... and never will be. Not one "corporate giant" advertises on the show. It is what it is; try to enjoy what you've got. We could go back to late night ESPN2, where you better hope the NHL post-game doesn't run long ... or the once a year Carlsbad GP on Wide World of Sports, months after the fact. TV is about money, pure and simple, and SX earns a fraction of what many other sports do. Constructive critism is fine, but a little gratitude for what you're getting might be in order as well. Otherwise, I'll get some cheese to go with all the whine.
Great racing so far, I love it. The only issue I have this week is Reed being called a "privateer". My buddy raced SX and he was a true Privateer, but he in no way did he have Bel Ray, Shift and other compaines dumping money into his campaign....nor was he already a millionaire with factory honda support and access to Pro Circuit and other support....Sure he has his own "private" team and paid a lot of his own money to get off the ground because he wanted too......but a true "privateer"???...I think the real privateers would disagree, It is Chad Reed after all....Dont get me wrong, I like what Reed is doing and its great for the MX world and actually have gained respect for the guy and hop ehe does well...