St. Louis Practice Report
Saturday, March 2, 2013 | 6:35 PM
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PrintThe riders wanted softer dirt, and they’ve got it here in St. Louis. After the practice sessions were completed, the track looked gnarly—whoops were all torn up, and the 180 bowl berms with carved with ruts. A beat up track isn’t always great, but the riders will take it if it offers traction and the chance to find a fresh line and make a pass.
The rider who looks more comfortable on the stuff is Ryan Villopoto. He was fastest in the first timed session and second fastest (behind James Stewart) in session two. But RV’s laps looked repeatable and comfortable, where as Stewart had his ups and downs. Literally, actually, as James took on a big crash in a rhythm lane and came down hard on his side. Took him a while to get up, but he was eventually able to stand under his own power and get back on the bike. But then he rode it into the pits. We will check on the status of last week’s race winner before the night show.
Millsaps is right in the hunt again.
Cudby photo
Villopoto looks darned comfortable on the soft St. Louis soil.
Cudby photo
As expected, everyone else in the 450 class is close in times. A start could change everything, and so could the ever-changing track conditions. One mistake could upset everything when the riders are this close, and this track, rutted, showing concrete in areas, could breed mistakes. In fact, we’d rather not even put St. Louis, concrete and. Ryan Villopoto. In the same sentence. And we just didn’t.
In the 250s, rookie Jeremy Martin is proving to be a real player. That’s quite a bounce back after not even qualifying for the Dallas opener. The kid was fastest in the first timed session. Dean Wilson came back as fastest in session two. However, Dean said he just couldn’t get a clean lap in during session one. As expected, then, Dean is the favorite tonight, but last week’s winner, Wil Hahn, and Marvin Musquin, look fast, too.
Times are below. There won’t be a live TV show from tonight’s race so dial up @racerxoline on Twitter to get up to the second reports. Or just check this website throughout the night!
OVERALL BEST LAP TIMES - QUALIFYING COMBINED
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS
EDWARD JONES DOME - ST. LOUIS, MO
ROUND 9 OF 17 - MARCH 2, 2013
1
James Stewart
Suzuki RM-Z450
49.039
2
Ryan Villopoto
Kawasaki KX 450F
49.273
3
David Millsaps
Suzuki RM-Z450
49.516
4
Eli Tomac
Honda CRF 450
49.558
5
Chad Reed
Honda CRF 450
5
49.807
6
Justin Barcia
Honda CRF 450
49.917
7
Ryan Dungey
KTM 450 SX-F
49.976
8
Justin Brayton
Yamaha YZ450F
50.390
9
Jimmy Albertson
Honda CRF 450
50.517
10
Kyle Chisholm
Yamaha YZ450F
50.525
11
Matthew Goerke
KTM 450 SX-F
50.565
12
Trey Canard
Honda CRF 450
50.630
13
Broc Tickle
Suzuki RM-Z450
50.681
14
Mike Alessi
Suzuki RM-Z450
50.698
15
Jake Weimer
Kawasaki KX 450F
50.829
16
Weston Peick
Suzuki RM-Z450
50.996
17
Kyle Partridge
Honda CRF 450
51.099
18
Robert Kiniry
Yamaha YZ450F
51.102
19
Les Smith
KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edit
51.133
20
Andrew Short
KTM 450 SX-F
51.215
250SX
1
Dean Wilson
Kawasaki KX 250F
49.503
2
Marvin Musquin
KTM 250 SX-F
50.679
3
William Hahn
Honda CRF 250
50.696
4
Jeremy Martin
Yamaha YZ250F
50.738
5
Gavin Faith
Honda CRF 250
51.130
6
Blake Wharton
Suzuki RM-Z250
51.289
7
A J Catanzaro
Kawasaki KX 250F
51.438
8
Zachary Bell
Honda CRF 250
51.750
9
Vince Friese
Honda CRF 250
51.769
10
Justin Hill
Kawasaki KX 250F
51.921
11
Cole Thompson
Honda CRF 250
51.959
12
Kyle Peters
Honda CRF 250
52.280
14
Daniel Herrlein
Honda CRF 250
52.387
14
Mitchell Oldenburg
Honda CRF 250
52.582
15
Lance Vincent
KTM 250 SX-F
52.669
16
Shawn Rife
Honda CRF 250
52.763
17
James Decotis
Honda CRF 250
17
52.843
18
Zackery Freeberg
Honda CRF 250
52.942
19
Jackson Richardson
Honda CRF 250
53.000
20.
Gareth Swanepoel
Kawasaki KX 250F
53.070
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Stewart did take a hard shot, hope he is good to go for tonight's race. Sixteen riders with lap times under 51 seconds in 450 qualifying and 2 that slipped below the 50 second mark. That should make tonight's 450 race very interesting
Omg why does RD suck so bad now? When did he get to be so slow? He's 3rd in points but a boring racer. There's no reason he should be getting consistent 5th-6th place finishes, it's ridiculous.
Where be Josh Hill?
@rcx1 - easy tiger. RD has 5 podiums including a win thru the first 8 races. There will be 17 guys in the main tonight that wish they had been that fast so far this year. Pretty sure he's a bad dude.
Just saw an interview with Reed and Jim Holly were Reed said his knee still gives him trouble and he needs more work on it.. Said it awells up during the week and makes it hard to bend.. Plus Reed said they moved away from the air forks for St. Louis, we will see how that works..
My prediction:
1)RV1
2)ET17
3)RD5
4)CR22
5)JS7
6)DM18
My predictions are used solely for entertainment purposes.
Dungey is getting beat by guys who are washed up. That's sad. I wonder why he gave up?
yamalink, Hill was 24th, at 51.9 seconds. It seems Canard has also lost some of his mojo.
Wish I sucked that bad. he never dominated. Yeah last year outdoors when Alessi was his biggest challenger.Alessi would have been battling for 6th if it was a full field.Last year outdoors 450's had to be the worse season ever for the AMA post 500 class. RD is a compiler. Takes his 3rd 4th and 5ths to the top
Who is washed up that is beating Dungey??
That should a a 7 not a 2 in my first post
@SX...come on Dungey is half a second off fast lap...His work ethic is sik...go Mike #800...can't wait for outdoor Nationals. Not sure what answer is to make tracks for side by side racing. Have ideas...
@bd200 - Looks like some of the kids got into the scooby snacks again . . . hopefully they are supporting the energy drink sponsors if nothing else.
switch to Chase race format for 2014 but do not call them chase races, playoffs or something, but definetly switch for 2014... 12 regular season races and 5 playoff season races, lets do it... change is good...
JS7,RV1,JB51,DM18,CR22,RD5.If Stewart in injured then I will move him to eight place. The dirt looks great but the track is very skinny in most places.
Washed up riders beating Dungey? Are you kidding? I know that you don't include your dawg Stewart? The top 7 under 50 secs a lap, separated by fractions of a second. I wish I was that washed up!!
Hoping this is Davi's night for a long overdue bad race.
With everyone running such close lap times it will come down to the same two things...Starts and mistakes...He who gets the best start and makes the fewest mistakes should come out on top.
Milsaps looks solid, unaware of the pressure everyone hopes will cause him to have an off night.
RV looked aggressive in practice, I don't think you will see him play follow the leader tonight.
Dungey's needs to get start and be his usual consistent self on a track that is going to break down.
Barcia, Canard, Reed and Tomac all fast enough to win and be Honda spoilers.. Stewart is again fastest qualifier and can never be counted out...
Hopefully tonight will have the Great Eight passing around the top spots like we have been yearning to see..
as a former dungey critic i've learned A. dungey is a grinder its not that flashy but he gets it done and B. hating on him will only have you eatin crow. I said he would not win a race and would be lucky to get that ktm on the podium going into the season look where that got me
I still stand by my opinion/assumption that dungey would be better or atleast have it easier on a different bike
predictions RV,DM,ET
as for my prediction 3rd place is hard to pick but I think for sure its RV and DM 1 and 2 tonight and most of the remaining races milsaps is on
You all take this stuff too seriously. Obviously, I was joking. Grow a sense of humor and enjoy the races tonight. Should be a good one. Let's see if RV can afford to "give away" another 3 points. :)
Here is my finish prediction: DM18, JS7, RV1
I think this is going to be RV's night, along with DM and JS. I am curious to see how Wilbur and Marvin do. Too bad we have to wait until tomorrow to watch it. Other than that fred will get lucky and 2dam old2race will be firing up the beans again for another Saturday night.
Nothing against Davi but I'd like to see him get a 4th or 5th with RV winning just to make the points race closer. Throw RD in there somewhere between them.
Reed in 5th, thats good for him. Maybe he is on for a win tonight.
rcx1: Hey you little punk. Put Dungey on a Kawi or Honda and you'd see that he is a s good as ever. Stay off here if you are gonna be stupid.
RCRGuy: So now you're saying the bike DOES matter, and KTM is the reason Dungey is slower? Because that's not what you said before. Before, you - and many others - said the bike was of little consequence. Pick one please.
I enjoy a little sports banter as much as the next person. As a Lions fan I have taken my share of abuse. The part that I don't understand is what is up with the playground name calling. Is that how this generation does it now? How cool would it be to have an intelligent exchange about the sport that we all love? What I am trying to say is, stop being such a doody-head! (haha). Triple digit numbers aren't bad when it comes to IQ.
A.J. = 7th ?
Lookin for my main man RD5 to be on the box and DM18 to show up on the box as well. My heart is pulling for a Reed win though, and I am looking for JS to sneak around the inside of the main.
All I know is that Speed Channel needs to carry all SX live!!!
Rv aggressive + fewest mistakes = 1st
JS fast + hung tough = 2nd
Reed desire + speed = 3rd
Dungey fast+ consistent = 4th
Barcia fast + mistake = 5th
Milsaps solid + smart on an off night= 6th
We got to see some close racing, some passing and the points tighten up ....YEAH
Millsaps got slammed by Canard who seems to be struggling now too..