450 Words: Anaheim 1
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We’ve got a ton of stories to discuss after the Anaheim 1 opener, and most of them will end up focusing on the four-pack of riders who are expected to contend for this year’s Monster Energy Supercross Championship. And those four riders—Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey and James Stewart—showed they are still the forces to reckond with, as they held the top four spots for most of the race at Anaheim.
But the other big story of the season is amount of stories. This year’s field is more than 20-deep in elite talent, and within it lies stories of comebacks, debuts, returns and redemption. So while the lead four did indeed hold the top four spots for most of the race, the other guys were battling just as hard—and eventually two of them broke through and actually finished within that front pack.
Behind the battle between Reed/Dungey/Stewart battle for second place, you’d find even more action. Honda men Andrew Short and Justin Brayton put on the battle of death for a good seven laps, completely shadowing each other’s every move. Their race ebbed and flowed, and then they eventually rolled up on riders like Ivan Tedesco and Mike Alessi. Brayton kept chugging, shaking Short, passing Tedesco and Alessi, and putting himself in fifth. When Stewart crashed, he took advantage and moved to fourth. It wasn’t a podium, but it was a great start to his new season with a new team.
Weimer got to hit reset after missing most of last year's SX tour.
Cudby photo
Jake Weimer put in just as strong a ride on his Monster Energy Kawasaki. He was in that Brayton/Short battle early, but made a brief exit off the track and lost a ton of spots (make a mistake in this pack and you’re losing a places quickly). He stood about 11th and the riders in front of him, like Tedesco, Alessi, Short and Windham, were riding well. But he kept charging, kept digging and showed impressive speed and endurance as he ran them all down. He took advantage of the Stewart crash to take one last spot, and take his first-ever top five 450 SX finish.
No doubt that Villopoto is expected to be the main man at Monster Energy Kawasaki—he proved it by winning last year’s title and dominating Saturday night’s race. But now Weimer is healthy and ready to show what he can do, too. Similarly, Trey Canard is the headline rider at the Muscle Milk Honda team based on his heritage of race wins and championships. But Brayton is giving it his best, too, and for one week at least, stood as the best of the group outside of the expected contenders, and even broke through past one of them. And expect this only to be the first of many great battles in throughout this field.
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Putting Canard into the mix is only gonna make it even more crazy. I like what wiege wrote when he said "make a mistake in this pack and you`re losing places quickly." that pretty much sums it up. I was there last night it was awesome.
I think "stewable" taking the kings crown is never going to happen... At this stage of his career, money def is not a concern, so in my opinion he should have taken the suzuki deal. That yamaha and him are never going to be able to get this deal done. May not get etched into the record books, but sure is going to get paid alot of money to ride around out there this season. Villopoto may be the first man ever to have an undefeated sx season... I will really be surprised if James is going to have anything for him. I know its a long season, but I am sure all of those guys are happy James picked to ride the "tornado" this season.
The top 3 finished like last years points.Stewarts ride (and the track) reminded me of Bradshaw at the 92 final race,just rode tight,could not find the groove and lost the title.The track was kind of old school,tight,rough and a little slower.I thought it was cool and good to switch it up.Maybe the lower speeds will keep injury down.I am sure they will have some more open faster tracks during the season to please everyone.
Stewart is riding like he's lost his confidence. That's a shame, he's great to watch when he's on his game.
joshuamccollum802,
I can't believe you're already writing off stewart and think as good as RV is that he is gonna go undefeated...I do agree with you about the yamaha though and if stewart is gonna put money before his ride than he deserves to not do as good as he should...I know james can do it though even on his yamaha and I think that all the pressure and nerves got the best of him last night as you could see he looked like he wasn't thinking like he normally does and looked like he didn't have any confidence...Thats A1 though and I would bet anyone anything that he pulls it out real quick though as time goes by. I think that RV is going to win this championship though because he's got that thing dialed right now and he's going to be super consistent when he doesn't make it on top of the box and as you would all probably agree...JS7 is going down at least a couple more times this year. I think he was really lucky last year in a few of his crashes that he walked away and i'm afraid he's not going to be so lucky this year if he crashes hard again a time or two...I almost feel nervous when watching stewart ride because you can tell he puts alot of pressure on himself and makes stupid mistakes...all I can say is that I'm thinking this year is gonna be a runaway in the points for RV this year unless Stewart pulls the lead out because I think that when both RV and JS7 are at the top of their games that JS7 is slightly faster but his inconsistency will probably get the best of him this year although he'll get a few wins in too. I think next year is going to be epic though when some of the top 250 guys come in and JS7 gets a lot of testing and seat time under his belt this year in this series and in the nationals. RV has that thing dialed right now because he's been on kawaees for so long when JS7 is on a new team but next year he'll have it dialed and some pressure off.
Canard is the only one missing but this year the 450 class is so stacked,its unreal! some great guys arent going to make some mains this year! Villopoto his a step above the reed/dugey/stewart trio and stewart wont win the title this year again... still fight that front end on the yamaha....
Stewart's bike is fine people. In his pre-season interviews he seemed pretty comfortable making the point that this year is his. He had the opportunity to leave the Yamaha's and didn't. Last night was a completely normal moto gone wrong for him so I don't see where there's any legitimate excuse. After the race he was defeated when he spoke and his face was blank, anyone who didn't pick up on that is blind. He has a lot of work to do, and no I don't think every main event is going to go like that and that he won't win any races. Last night wasn't just a win for RV though, that was a mental mind f*ck to the entire 450 class about who is boss this year. It was a big reality check to the other top dogs no doubt.
Stewart's bike is completly different then last year, JGR can do amazing things to a dirtbike so his bike is just fine ! James just got off to a bad start and then crashed late in the race . Villopoto will not holeshot every race , we will see great racing this year , and i wish the track builders would open up the 180* corners so its not follow the leader around a berm all the time ,lets see some inside lines for a change !!!
Dear Feld,
As a fan that spends about $1000.00 every year to attend all three So. Cal SX races.
Maybe you'd like to know I only spent 100.00 for A1 and sat in the Club seats.
That is all you get, your show is out dated and your announcer talk's to much.
I will watch the rest on TV.
The only result I guessed correctly was Short. He's a 7th place guy no matter what color or displacement of bike. Alessi was a pleasant surprise. I'll be the first to predict it: Alessi finishes 2nd overall in Outdoors (after a top 10 SX series).
@ cxd56..........I am jelous! How did the track look live? To me the racing seemed alot slower than usual on TV. Did it seem like that from the stands? Does anyone like those wall rollers/
jumps? I think they are as useless as Republicans are human beings! LMFAO!!!!!!!
Last night was a great start to the new super cross series and RV certainly showed he means business again this season... Those bagging James's Yami, don't forget that both CR and RD crashed as well last night & JS basically missed the start in both his heat and main which in this class you cannot do. All this showed for JS was a lack of race practice that the race time he got will certainly address. He certainly did not look as comfortable as he should but neither did any of the others in their first race on a new team. No matter how much testing you do, nothing can substitute for race time. This is going to be a great season and go down to the wire with RV and JS fighting it out....
@yamalink I thought Alessi looked a lot better than he has for a while, but, their is no way in hell he could finish 2nd in the outdoor series. 1. he has never finished a full series healthy that i can remember. 2. their are 5 guys that will beat him by 20 seconds every moto. 3. His dad will f##k up the Moto Concepts ride before the end of S/X. 4. He has not been in good enough shape to get a top 5 since he got ran over by the top 5 three years ago. HaHa. Also I thought Shorty looked like he may be getting some speed back. Condidering he hasn't been riding long and his elbos are still hurting i'm hoping he can start breaking into the top 5.
Villopoto ran great, Reed still impressive and Dungey rocked the KTM....JS7, SOS...that guy likes playing in the dirt so much that he should have been a farmer!
BTW, who took the logs out of the endurocross track...it sucked!
JS7 seems to be a bit off on conditioning.
California used to be where at least 1/2 the pros were (originally) from, but times have changed:
A1 450 class results, rider home state / country:
1. Washington 2. Australia 3. Minnesota 4. Iowa 5. Idaho
Dungey's cornering didn't look as crisp as the other riders, although it's hard to tell watching on TV. RV cheated...he must have, as fast as pulled away from the pack right off the start. Even Reed stated that RV made everyone look bad in that race. No PC bikes won even a qualifier Saturday night, and Eli came out of nowhere the last couple laps to get Wilson.
Hey MXBob, RV was born in Ca not Washington.
ITS ONLY THE FIRST RACE , No way anyone can make predictions at this point !
When everyone looks a bit off in speed and struggles during a race except one rider, what does that tell you? When one rider can set the fastest time of the night including practice while running in traffic in a heat race, what does that tell you?
When a rider can put a second a lap on CR running second, what does that tell you?
When everyone struggles and complains about a race track while one rider just cruises around without a bobble what does that tell you?
When only one rider can consistently improve upon his qualifying times when needed to win races then that should tell you the whole story.
All the talking about how many great things JGR can do with the yamaha is getting old. Stewart, like him or not, rode just like last year.
All the experts did unjust to san manuel´s 2011 team.
I was as surprised as much as I wasn't surprised about A1. Good racing, although wasn't a huge fan of the track layout.RV1 is looking great, he's going to be a hard guy to beat this year. But anyone counting out the other main contenders are looking too far into the future. We all knew RV was going to be strong, especially since he has been riding the 2012 bike now for 6 months. (He got it before Unadilla) Although he did look better than I thought he would, like mentioned before he is not going to get the holeshot every week, and he is going to be on the ground more than likely at atleast a few rounds. He was way out front at A1, by far the strongest, but remember the other 3 guys fell over during the race to help with half of that 20 second lead. Its funny how some write the championship off after 1 race. JS looked good, a little tight at the middle of the race maybe, but had a simple crossrut and fell. While RV got the holeshot JS came from around 8th or 9th (somewhere near there) up to a podium then fell. If JS got out front and RV got a bad start, I don't think he would have caught up either on that track. I think RD needs a few more races on his bike, they will get better as the season goes on, but again I still think he needs to be, at times, more aggressive on getting around riders when he's right on their heels. CR looked solid, we know he will be there this year.
Anyone assuming how the series turn out after just one race, is just that, assuming. Because we still have to take in account bad starts, crashes, and other mishaps that are all a part of racing, no matter how fast someone is riding.
Hey MXPete450, you need to lay off the MSNBC & OWS crack pipe for a while. If you could pull your head out of your a$$ long enough to actually read, you would see that Republicans are the only ones defending your right to ride. If you see a land closure anywhere (especially at the Federal level), it will be a democrat pushing it and a Republican resisting.
Retardcross: you said it. RV gave them a mental mind-X@#! as you say. Even he wasn't sure what to expect going in and at around lap 8 he was probably wondering what the hell? Usually the leader gets to relax for the last lap or maybe even two laps.....he relaxed for the last 11 laps!!! He now has that under his belt and that will only serve to make him that more formidable in the coming rounds. I really thought there was no way he would sweep the MEC even without the big competition being there....too much can happen. But he nearly pulled every holeshot there and then did it again at A1. I don't think there is any way he would ever go undefeated in SX for 17 rounds, again too much can happen. But right now it looks like we're in for one of those runaways. I think Canard will be the only hope to give RV anything when he is healthy and 100%. I mean, it is one thing to find a few seconds over 20 laps from one week to the next, but none of them were in RV's league. They need to find about 20 seconds somehow. He had 8 laps faster than Stewart's fastest?!! If he wanted to, I wonder if he could have had 18 laps faster? The 8 faster laps came in his laps 1-9, and he missed the 9th faster lap by about .003 seconds or something. That is unreal. I just watched the race again, and Stewart was 22 seconds down BEFORE he crashed. Maybe MC does have to worry about his record, but not from Stewart. How many wins does RV have right now? 15? I'm not sure about that. Now does Stewart even catch RC....he needs 6 more.
motohead279: just for clarification, Reed was about 12 seconds down when he fell, he was only 13 seconds down at the finish. Dungey was about 20 seconds down when he fell and Stewart was 22 seconds down before his crash. Reed and Dungey actually had faster laps in the 2nd half than RV and finished way closer than they were at one point, because he backed it down so much. He was basically able to maintain a 13 second lead riding at maybe 90%. You aren't going to make many mistakes if you have the ability to do that. I too thought RV would win a bunch again and be the favorite but not like that. Crazy!
Retardcross hit the nail on the head! everyone will be going home and wondering what just happened and how can we do better. Stewart looked winded and out of shape after that race, fall or no fall he wasn't gonna get passed Dungey a second time, let alone Reed. Consistency pays off and thats a lesson Stewart has never learned.
I'm not a fan of JS7 but cut the guy some slack it's going to take some time for him to get used to the race pace which you can't simulate that at your home track,
he'll get there. Bold prediction on Alessi 2 in the outdoors.
RV is a good technical rider and it showed with his lap times, he also did the same thing at Unadilla. It's going to be another great series. Aren't we the lucky ones.
For me there's always such a big let down after the first race is over. The race gets hyped up SO much & we havent had any racing for a while so we want it real bad. Old riders, young riders, everybody has their new team colors flying & it seems anyone can win. Anahiem 1 used to be such a mystery race. We didnt dont know who was gonna win or what to expect. But then the race is over. The expected happens. Villo smoked everybody & the top riders finished about where they normally do. Funny how things come out in the wash!
RV looked very dominate, but the track layout, one where the fast line move outward in the corners as the soft/inconsistant dirt deteriorates through the event, favors him.
He rails the outside line better than anyone since Badshaw, my perception is that corner speed is king in SX and he has had in his pocket on everyone ever since X-mass came early at the end of the Nationals last summer.
Dungey had faster lap times than Bubba for 17 laps out of the 20 lap Main event. Dungey beat Reed's lap times 16 out of 20 laps. Dungey's average was 1/2 a second a lap off of Villopoto. This shows the difference that a good start can make. RV and Reed had a clean track and Dungey did all this while battling with Bubba. It didn't seem like it watching it on TV but the stop watch doesnt lie.
I dont know how many of you were "actually" at A-1 (I was)...and JS7's qualifying time was a full (1 second) faster than Villipoto and Reed. I see all of this BS about Yamaha's front end pushing, not turning sharp enough...blah blah blah.I'm not a Yamaha guy...but geez...Stewart looked the smoothest in all practice sessions. Get off of the Yamaha excuses...he's arguably on one of the best bikes out there with Factory support and JGR development. But....he did not look his best in the main...almost like something happened to him or with the bike...was definitely not racing at 100% like he was in his heat.
Indeed, RV looks good....Physically and mentally.
One thing I want to add about lap times to the posts above....How many clear track laps did RV have vs how many James had? RV was able to just go forward with his pace, probably about 15 laps before he hit any "heavy" lapped traffic that affected his laptimes and, while James was in 12th going thru the pack on a track you had to slow down on to keep from running into guys. ...RV was clearly the fastest of the night, but the lap by lap times on a track like that are not something to judge folks on.....Reed and Dungey closed it up at the end battling for 2nd when RV was just cruising around and JS7 was playing with his radiator shroud.....Hopefully PHX will be a better night to really see how things are....I'll be there!
RV;s remarks say it all regarding him vs Stewart. He said that during the off season "no rock was left unturned". I.E. Complete focus on racinng. You know Stewart couldn't say that about his offseason and that's why this is RV's championship, or RD's, or Reeds, but it won't be JS's
Also, If James was " rusty", " not 100%", "off ", " tired" or whatever....He was able to easily pass Dungey in the main and was looking for 2nd before he fell....so he can only get better from here on out....He did look a little off and his starts were HORRIBLE.....so he can only get sharper....
I am fine if RV or James winning...but dont think James isnt going to get better...PHX will be a different race I am sure and maybe a great RV and JS7 battle awaits....anyone who has raced knows you just dont come back after 6 months ready to go...If anyone could do it, James could...but it didnt happen obviously, but he has the speed no doubt.
Was at the race and great to see RV win the opener! He looked so consistently fast-lap after lap!
Alessi was a bit of a surprise, fast at first as usual and with no whooops so to speak he held out for awhile- but then he drops anchor near the mid point.
What about "team" slozuki?! What a joke!!! Metcalf looked SOOOO slow out there!
The West 250's are going to be very interesting this year as looks like there is maybe 6 guys who could win a race and I think one bad race by any of them spells doom for the championship for them- Lastly- what is it about Davalos that the guy just seems "lost"?
Ha ha, I chuckle at the dude who says Alessi will finished 2nd overall at the end of the season. His steriods won't get him THAT far!!! He goes backwards every main, not forwards, so I don't see him even standing on the box once this season!
I'm not a Alessi fan but his qualifier was amazing. Not only did he finish second he was right on Reeds rear wheel after 8 laps. If he can get to where he has 20 laps in him he could easily have his best sx season ever. At this point he is racing to support his entire family.The sh#t he has to put up with (Dad) must be no picnic in that motor home. He rode like he has been working hard, but we will see when there is a whoop section.
@TWK1: qualifiers are just that, qualifiers. They don't mean anything but starting position.
This is a question, I have'nt gone back and checked on the DVR, but was'nt the fastest or equal fast lap time of the race/qualifiers set by RV while coming from mid-pack in his qualifier? If so, that blows the theory that it was a one line track for everyone.
KillerMoto: If anyone can do it RV can:
March 2010 at St. Louis (broke leg) til A-1 Jan 2011: Race Result #1
JS7 May 2011 at Vegas (healthy) til A-1 Jan 2012: Race Result #6
To the people saying "give Stewie a break, he's been off for 6 months".
Wasn't it his choice? Isn't he paid millions to ride a dirt bike? Doesn't he go around telling the world that he's the best? Sorry. No breaks for Stewie!
He's lazy and a fraud! If I were Joe Gibbs I'd ask for a refund and a real racer.
Why do some of you feel the need to make excuses for him? Do you think he'd have your back on anything?
After Watching the race inside the stadium and not being fed the crap shown on TV. The track was far from one-line, the reason Reed hated the track is because there were so many lines out there, he couldn't defend and stay in the "fast line" to protect his spot.
Each corner has the fastest way through it, but you could take the outside line on corners and carry the sped to double or triple the next jump instead of single or double like the guys who took the inside.
This is what killed Dungey on catching Reef on the last couple laps, the 2/3 jump out of the corner by left field flagpole. Dungey went inside inside to single double,double reed went inside outside to triple double.
Tomac was the first one to hit that combo in before his bike blewup in the heat race.
anyone that says the word consistency in the first round doesnt know what the word means!............this is how it all started last year too....?........give Poto time to wreck himself already. Do you really think he is going to holeshot every race. NO ! he will not. And we have all seen what happens to Ginger Poto when he is trying to come through the pack ! he usually ends up on the ground so stop using the word Consistency its the first Round !
redrider24: SPOT ON! Nobody better be giving Stewart any slack because he was "off" for 8 months. He didn't give Gibbs a discount for that, or any of his sponsors. This is his million dollar JOB and it started Saturday night. He isn't one of us working 50 hours a week and then racing back into shape in the spring time on the weekends.
Maico25: Good point about the heat. I ckecked it out at amasupercross.com and RV laps 4-8 were 2 in the 1:01's and 3 in the 1:00's. His average lap for the heat was .4 seconds FASTER than Reed's. In the other heat Dungey had nothing faster than 1:02 and Stewart had 4 in the high 1:01's. Average heat lap for Dungey was 1:03.013 and for Stewart it was 1:02.557. RV's average heat lap was 1:02.383.
I think people forget the Undefeated season JS had outdoors and how fast he was then. Any rider with this kind of talent and determination and focus can never be counted out. Its one thing to win a championship, Its a whole other thing to go undefeated.
That being said I think James's Fitness is questionable this year, I also think he has never quite looked comfortable on a yamaha However I think the JGR bike is better than the previous L&M bike by far.
I still think its too early to tell what JS has to offer this season, I do think the next race will make more of a statement about where he really is this year. He still put in the fastest lap of the night in A1. I think RV's style is Much like JS in that they both let it hang out...RV is one fast dude and always has been....Don't count JS out yet, there is more to see on him. I do think if he doesn't really make a strong contention this year for the championship it could be over for him. Reed however has a real good shot of winning this year if IMO ~
my two cents: It doesn't matter if RV won by 20 seconds or 2, it only got him 3 points over CR and 5 over RD. a perfect season is 450 points over 17 races. I expect something unecpected to happen just about every weekend, and it is way too early to be making predictions and counting JS or anyone else out (especially if the track was really as bad/different as everyone is saying)
Ryan Villopotto is the fastest man on the planet.
Reading all comments from A1 and stuff about JS7 makes me sad, upset and angry. People complaining, judging and hating on more and more in the sport.. Right now especially James Stewart, all of you, including me, have NO IDEA why James struggled last year. EVERYTIME he is on the starting gate people EXPECT him winning, if he gets second or third EVERYBODY starts wondering what´s wrong etc no wonder he cant enjoy riding!! A lot of people is just too much for me too handle, you sit behind your got damn computer and judging and hating James, he should do this, he should do that complaining about him, I mean c´mon??!!! ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS??? JAMES STEWART is, when we talk skills on a motocross bike, without a doubt the best this world has ever seen! Yes, Carmichael have won more titles but in my opinion James is a step further when it comes to handling the bike. James IS the reason the riding styles have changed so drastic the last couple of years with the scrubs and stuff. James went UNDEFEATED outdoors ´08 I think it was so if you think you got something to say, you dont! Like Motohead279 wrote, you guys dont have ANY IDEA how it is on their level of racing. All the hype, pressure, expectations and sacrifices they go through. Feels like the love for the sport is fading away and the expectations grow through the roof. Instead of complaints, take a step back and enjoy the best era of SX/MX ever. Im a big fan of both Dungey and Stewart but my respect for all other riders is huge. Except for Pourcel and J-Law.
And for all the haters, SHUT THE F**K UP OR LINE UP ON THE PHOENIX STARTING GATE AND SHOW HOW ITS DONE??... CANT BELIEVE YOU!!