by Chase Stallo
Sign of the Lap Times: San Diego
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 | 1:00 PM
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PrintThe California swing is now in the rear-view as Monster Energy Supercross heads east to Dallas. But what a way to send say goodbye to Cali! Just when it looked like Dean Wilson was out of it, he goes out and TOTALLY REDEEMS himself with a win in San Diego, and also gets help from a season’s worst 20th from points leader Eli Tomac. After sitting more than 20 points back heading into San Diego, Wilson takes a two point lead into the eight week long break before the series returns in Seattle. In the supercross class things are really beginning to heat up, as Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed took off the gloves and threw down in San Diego. Reed used his prowess through the whoops and help from some lap riders to latch onto Villopoto, before making what looked to be a race winning pass. But Villopoto would quickly strike back to regain the lead and hang on for his third win of the season.
Now onto the lap charts to see how it all broke down.
AMA Supercross
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 2 |
45.610 |
5 |
47.279 |
Chad Reed |
| 2 | 1 |
45.674 |
3 |
47.247 |
Ryan Villopoto |
| 3 | 15 |
46.496 |
6 |
52.025 |
James Stewart |
| 4 | 3 |
47.082 |
8 |
48.348 |
Ryan Dungey |
| 5 | 16 |
47.327 |
3 |
52.081 |
Kevin Windham |
| 6 | 4 |
47.362 |
4 |
49.024 |
Brett Metcalfe |
| 7 | 20 |
47.387 |
3 |
56.492 |
Jake Weimer |
| 8 |
7 |
47.965 |
3 |
49.825 |
Davi Millsaps |
| 9 | 9 |
48.189 |
3 |
50.021 |
Mike Alessi |
| 10 | 6 |
48.199 |
4 |
49.452 |
Justin Brayton |
| 11 | 5 |
48.395 |
8 |
48.998 |
Josh Hansen |
| 12 | 8 |
48.808 |
7 |
49.884 |
Kyle Chisholm |
| 13 | 10 |
49.171 |
8 |
50.331 |
Nick Wey |
| 14 |
11 |
49.294 |
4 |
50.817 |
Jason Thomas |
| 15 | 13 |
49.337 |
4 |
51.196 |
Weston Peick |
| 16 | 19 |
49.345 |
8 |
55.884 |
Kyle Partridge |
| 17 |
17 |
49.608 |
15 |
52.980 |
Matt Goerke |
| 18 | 12 |
49.645 |
3 |
50.821 |
Cody Mackie |
| 19 | 18 |
49.821 |
14 |
55.665 |
Broc Tickle |
| 20 | 14 |
50.148 |
3 |
51.203 |
Robby Kiniry |
After five straight weeks of making the top of the lap charts his personal kingdom, Ryan Villopoto’s reign as “King of the Lap Charts” has finally come to an end. Chad Reed was finally able to topple the “King” with a blistering pace through the whoops en route to setting the fastest lap of the night with a 45.610.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Brett Metcalfe is starting to find a groove. Metcalfe led his first laps of the season and capped it off with a career best fourth in San Diego. It’s been a trying season for the lone Yoshimura Suzuki rider but he looks to have finally found the right setup under the penetrating California lights.
Villopoto's streak of setting the fastest lap came to an end, but he took home his third win of the season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
AMA Supercross Lites
| Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
| 1 | 1 |
46.933 |
2 |
48.669 | Dean Wilson |
| 2 | 20 |
47.243 |
5 |
48.000 | Eli Tomac |
| 3 | 2 |
47.403 |
6 |
48.804 | Cole Seely |
| 4 | 17 |
48.623 |
3 |
53.081 | Jason Anderson |
| 5 |
16 |
48.634 |
9 |
54.189 | Marvin Musquin |
| 6 |
3 |
48.836 |
2 |
49.814 | Matt Moss |
| 7 | 7 |
48.876 |
4 |
50.248 | Billy Laninovich |
| 8 | 15 |
48.881 |
4 |
53.708 | Martin Davalos |
| 9 | 5 |
48.982 |
8 |
50.125 | Nico Izzi |
| 10 | 13 |
49.105 |
10 |
53.159 | Max Anstie |
| 11 | 4 |
49.191 |
6 |
50.045 | Gareth Swanepoel |
| 12 | 6 |
49.265 |
11 |
50.117 | Gavin Faith |
| 13 | 9 |
49.296 |
4 |
51.882 | Vince Friese |
| 14 | 12 |
49.569 |
6 |
52.446 | Bruce Rutherford |
| 15 | 8 |
49.692 |
10 |
50.307 | Travis Baker |
| 16 | 10 |
49.953 |
7 |
51.847 | Nick Paluzzi |
| 17 | 14 |
50.057 |
5 |
53.170 |
Killy Rusk |
| 18 | 11 |
50.167 |
5 |
52.525 |
Kyle Beaton |
| 19 | 18 |
50.227 |
3 |
54.927 |
Jean Carlo Ramos |
| 20 | 19 |
50.532 |
7 |
1:02.374 |
Scott Champion |
We mentioned the Wilson/Tomac points swing in the opening paragraph, so no need to re-hash it here, but another streak of Tomac's washed away on the shores of Southern California -- his five straight weeks atop the lap charts. Wilson was relaxed in San Diego and it showed as he topped the lap charts with a blistering 46.993 -- setting the fastest Lites time of the night.
Eli Tomac wasn’t the only rider to suffer a huge points swing in San Diego. Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin was running inside the top five when he ran into the back of Tomac, all but ending his chances of capturing an SX Lites title. The Frenchman will now move to the East Coast where he will be riding the 350, ala Ken Roczen last year.
Wilson would bring an end to Tomac's win and fastest lap streaks in San Diego.
Photo: Simon Cudby
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WOW,, JS and RD were way off pace...
Excellent Dumb and Dumber reference in the opening paragraph...and mxmofo, I'm sure JS would have been in the 47s with his avg time had he not spent all that time laying on the ground pinned to/under his bike. As for RD's times, well, you saw him going through those whoops looking like an Alessi.
Would love to see the segment times thru the whoops.
By the main the track seemed pretty one lined in most places except for the whoops, hence how RV and Reed got stuck behind the lappers for so long, no where to pass .....Surprised JS7 didnt pass Dungey quicker than he did, almost seemed like RD5 was holding him up.....JS7 clicked his fastest lap after passing Dungey then crashed...sadly, no surprise there and now James is back in the "spoiler" role unless RV and 22 have some really bad nights......Reed definitly had the edge in the whoops....Shorter guys like RV and Stew are at a little disadvantage when the whoops buck you around as much as they did in SD.
Reed and RV had average times almost the same as RD's best. He and KTM really need to make "some steps in the right direction", and soon. Maybe having a French wing-man will help.
BillC you can see them on the AMA Supercross website, under results
Stewart fans need to just except the fact that he isnt as fast as he used to be. PERIOD!! END OF STORY!!
Oh Yeah, and how about Reeds nacnac? Finally someone having a little fun at the races! Everyone is so serious these days!!!!
@Yamahauler152,, His crash doesnt have anything to with his BEST lap time. He was almost a full second slower.
BD25 it must be segment #3 but its not just the whoops I don't think cuz Reeds' best was 9.1 I would like to just see the whoops. Segment #3 Reed was close to a sec on RV .
What groove is Metty hitting? Almost a full 2 seconds off the top 2? I know he can do better, but JS7 and K-dub handed him this "best finish"
Stewart fans are the funniest group of people out there. the guy clearly has serious issues right now with all his crashes and he lucky he isnt in the hospital by now and all you here is, well, if he wouldnt have crashed, or if he would have got a good start, or if, or if or if he... You guys are comedians!
If i read the track map right, seg 3 started at whoop 1 and ended at tripple take off..... but that is a guess..
I love the excuse they use when Stewart loses and doesnt crash "He got a bad start". Thats the best one.. But he was slower than Reed and RV1 in this race too. So was Dungey. But any of the top 4 can win given the right track conditions and circumstances. Dont count out any of them when it comes to getting wins. But for the title I have to say its between Reed and RV1 of course, but Dungey has a chance. He is quietly hanging close, waiting for a big mistake from RV1 or Reed. Stewart will get a win here and there, but unless we get a DNF from RV and some very bad luck, he isnt in the title hunt.
I love the Sign of the Lap Times segments. Look at Hanny, his best lap was only 11 but he managed to stay on the bike and ended up 5th. Also very telling that Reed and RV were averaging laps that were almost as fast as 3rd place RD's fastest lap, as pointed out by MX Bob.
There was a lot made about the KTM's success at Phoenix, mostly from the GOAT and Emig, that the steel alloy frame's flex works so well at keeping the rear wheel hooked up on slippery dirt versus a stiffer aluminum alloy frame. I wonder in the gnarlier whoop sections if the frame is a liability, perhaps the front end is just not torsionally stiff enough to track straight in that situation. Whatever the reason, RD5 looked awful in the whoops on Saturday. Thoughts?
@Red44,, I agree, but anything can happen. Those top guys can easily have a bad race or two. We all know that RV can have a "train wreck" as well. JS needs to be near perfect from here on out, but I obviously don't see that happening,,, but you never know.
Good obversations guys! I Would say the harder the track layout the further ahead RV and CR are going to be. With the exception on a good night for JS7 and unless KTM can pull a rabbit out of their hat, that bike look tough through the whoops.
BillC those two had to be with in a second of each other throught the whoops,
CR was very consistant there and all night, RV too.
A very interesting tweet by CR ---
"CRtwotwo: @DavidVuillemin a bike thats very unfriendly and a rider that wants to push the limits is not a good combo..take your blue hat off and watch"
about 4 minutes ago
There's another way that Reed might have meant it- If he had held his ground and just pinned it instead of backing off and letting him by, they might have both gone down. Then it would be a race to see who can get up and going quicker- By allowing himself to get stuffed like that, he couldn't triple out, and then lost the race. A much more extreme example would be Stewart and Reed at Atlanta last year. So- he might be saying If he had wanted it as bad as Villopoto he would have fought harder for it-
It takes two to tangle.
BillC: Segment #3 is for the whoops...
http://results.amasupercross.com/data/2012/06/sxm1seg.pdf
Thanks BD25, That's a lot of Time reedy was making there then, very impressive
RCRDDW Thanks too. Reed was almost 1 sec there so that means RV was 1 sec on the reast of the track.
@BillC,I think that's where the corner speed makes the difference.
Chad is a really smart racer, he dialed in his bike specifically for that whoop section, other than the whoops the track was easy and pretty even. I'd be really surprised to c him there at the end again. Js7 is always a threat, and as long as the title chase is close in points, these guys r gonna go for it, I hope RD picks it up and js7 doesn't drop it
wow.....I see some of you are still looking at Bubba's bike as the problem! What's it gonna take to get thru to you guys? His bike was fine in practice where he was fastest....and he was second in his heat? Then he lawn darts in the main riding over his head? Pretty sure it's more than the bike guys....but you keep running with the inferior equipment theory if it helps you sleep,,,
It's not just the fans that are saying it, DV and CR said the same thing. Someone asked Chad on twitter what he thought was wrong, if it was Stewart himself or the bike and Reedy said it was the bike.
"a bike thats very unfriendly and a rider that wants to push the limits is not a good combo"
"Kenny Maddux
Cmon Chad you are the only rider that speaks the truth! Tell what is wrong with James? Him or the bike?@CRtwotwo"
"Chad Reed
@KennyMaddux bike"
Obviously the only person that knows the real issue is Stewart himself but coming from another racer, its much more than just a fans opinion.
@Ripdown,, Your right, CR has no clue what he's talking about,,, because YOU don't agree with him, right ?????
Any other time Reed has an opinion JS fans call him a whiner, but when his opinion favors the bike excuse they'll take it. How convenient. He's not on that bike and you can literally spot the rider error in all of Stewart's crashes if you pay attention. This weekend the whoops were gnarly and JS wasn't patient with them so he got bit, like many others.
@ Chillmatic...........Correction, DV thinks the bike is fine.
It's not the bike****** huge handi typo
Its not the BRAND of bike. I think Stewart doesnt know how to properly set up his bike for a particular track. He crashed all over the place on the Kawi too. And still would be crashing on a Kawi now.. His mechanic said Stewart is NOT a very good test rider, He said Stewart tells you what he wants the bike to do, not good at telling you what it is doing.. DV12 says the same. Because he sees Millsaps go through whoops straight as can be. He says they should secretly put Stewarts number on Millsaps bike and not tell Stewart, and he would be surprised.. Its NOT the Yamaha brand, its setup and Stewart going gung-ho riding over hios skill level..
Red44 said it best. It's obviously not just the bike setup that's gettin. Stewart, but I think it is part of his problems.
Millsaps can go through whoops straight as can be,....Yup but at half the speed and there inlies the problem.
@ Retardcross ,,, and the same can be said for you. Now reed's opinion doesnt favor YOU, so you don't believe it,, right. Why on God's Green Earth would Reed say the bike is part of the problem ? He had no reason to, plus as far as I know, they really don't like each other that much, so that makes me believe it. I agree that JS may not know how to set up a bike very well.
Its really funny when someone accuses others of doing something while they are doing it themselves and dont even realise it..
Keep calling it the bike all you want, he was yard sale king long before he touched any Yamaha for that matter. I like Reed and RV so I don't really care what lineup of excuses comes out of the JS camp, the results speak for themselves and his own decisions put him where he is.
I guess all of Grant Langston's, Broc Hepler's, Trey Canard's bikes are all crap too, must be the reason they have been crashing their entire careers.
@ Retardcross ,, Hey, like it or not, I'm just telling you what Reed said.
@BILLC, it looked like Millsaps got through those whoops faster than Stewie, because he stayed up. Stewie crashed all over on his Kawi too,