2013 AMA Motocross Round 4 High Point MX

450 Moto 1 – the early leader is Ryan Villopoto. As they complete the first lap of the 30 minute plus 2 lap moto, it’s Villopoto, Justin Barcia, Tyla Rattray, Malcolm Stewart, Ryan Dungey, Andrew Short, Ryan Sipes, Josh Grant, Justin Brayton, and Phil Nicoletti. James Stewart is 12th, Chad Reed 13th, Broc Tickle 15th.

Ryan Villopoto is running away with this race. 15 minutes (6 laps) into this race, he leads Justin Barcia by 16 seconds. Ryan Dungey has passed Tyla Rattray and moved into third. Then Rattray, Sipes, Grant, Canard, Nicoletti, Weimer, M Alessi. James Stewart 12th, Chad Reed 16th.

At the end of lap 7, Dungey has moved past Barcia and into second.

Ryan Villopoto takes the win in this 16 lap race. He’s followed by Ryan Dungey, Justin Barcia, Tyla Rattray, Josh Grant, Ryan Sipes, Trey Canard, Jake Weimer, Phil Nicoletti and Mike Alessi finishes tenth. Chad Reed 14th. James Stewart is being scored at 16th...

250 Moto 1 – the early leader is Zach Osborne (338). But by the end of the first lap, it’s Kenny Roczen with the lead! Then Cole Seely, Marvin Musquin, Justin Bogle, Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson, Darryn Durham, Eli Tomac 8th, Joey Savatgy, Jeremy Martin tenth, and Blake Baggett is 12th.

15 minutes into this race, Ken Roczen leads Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin by 12 seconds. Eli Tomac has moved up to third! Then it’s Justin Bogle, and, Blake Baggett has moved to fifth! Then Zach Osborne, Cooper Webb, Cole Seely, and Kyle Cunningham.

The Red Bull KTM ‘boys’ have done it. Kenny Roczen has won this 16 lap race. Marvin Musquin takes second. Third is Eli Tomac, then Blake Baggett, Justin Bogle, Cooper Webb, Kyle Cunningham, Darryn Durham, Jeremy Martin, and Zach Osborne 10th.

Ken Roczen

450 Moto 2 – the leader at the end of the first lap is James Stewart! He’s followed by Josh Grant. Ryan Dungey is third, with Ryan Villopoto fourth. Then it’s Mike Alessi, Tyla Rattray, Justin Barcia, Jake Weimer, Malcolm Stewart, and Ryan Sipes. Trey Canard is 11th, Chad Reed 13th.

Lap three – Dungey has gone around Josh Grant. The running order is James Stewart first, Ryan Dungey second, Josh Grant third, Ryan Villopoto fourth, Mike Alessi now fifth. Then Rattray, Barcia, M Stewart, R Sipes, and Canard.

On lap four, Villopoto has moved past Grant. It’s Stewart, Dungey, Villopoto – all of them have won 450 National MX Championships in their career, and all have won 450 Supercross Championships as well.

Villopoto now goes past Dungey and into second position. The top three are very close – Stewart leading, Villopoto second, Dungey third.

On lap 7, 15 minutes into the race, Ryan Villopoto has moved into the lead. The running order – Villopoto, Dungey, Mike Alessi, Tyla Rattray, Trey Canard, Ryan Sipes, Malcolm Stewart, Chad Reed, Justin Barcia, and Jake Weimer. Stewart is out of the race! (He pulls off the track – there is a problem with the front wheel of his motorcycle.)

At the ten lap mark, Villopoto leads Dungey, but only by 3.7 seconds. Mike Alessi is third with his best ride of the season – about 30 seconds back of the lead two! Then Rattray, Canard, Sipes, Barcia, Reed, Grant, and M Stewart.

Ryan Villopoto, the 2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Champion, has won this 17 lap race, going 1/1 on the day for the overall victory. With the motocross season now 1/3 complete, Villopoto stands atop the points chase in this series as well. The rest of the finishing positions in this moto – Dungey second, Alessi third, Rattray, Canard, Sipes, Barcia, Grant, Weimer, and Justin Brayton tenth (full results below).

250 Moto 2 – the leader at the end of lap one – Marvin Musquin! Zach Osborne is second, followed by Jeremy Martin, Joey Savatgy, Ken Roczen, Martin Davalos, Jason Anderson, Justin Bogle, Eli Tomac, and Cooper Webb tenth.

Four laps into this race it’s Marvin Musquin leading Zach Osborne by less than one second. Ken Roczen is third, followed by Jeremy Martin, Joey Savatgy, Martin Davalos, and Jason Anderson. Justin Bogle is eighth, teammate Eli Tomac is ninth, and Blake Baggett is 10th.

Blake Baggett

Lap six sees some changes. Marvin Musquin still leads, but teammate Ken Roczen has passed Osborne and moved into second position. Then it’s Osborne, Jeremy Martin, Joey Savatgy, Jason Anderson, Martin Davalos, Justin Bogle, Blake Baggett, and Cooper Webb. Eli Tomac has dropped to 11th.

10 laps into this race, it’s Marvin Musquin leading Ken Roczen by just over 1 second! Zach Osborne is a ways back in third.

If things continue this way, Marvin will win his second overall event in a row! (Both Ken and Marvin would each have a a win and a second, tying on points – 45 each, but Marvin would get the overall win based on the better second moto performance.)

This race goes 17 laps. Marvin Musquin wins it, and the overall victory! Ken Roczen is second, and extends his series points lead. Third place in this moto goes to Zach Osborne. Eli Tomac moves up to finish fourth, then Joey Savatgy and Jeremy Martin with good rides. The rest of the top ten – Anderson, Baggett, Bogle, Davalos (results below).

Marvin Musquin

450 Results:

Ryan Villopoto – KAW – 1/1

Ryan Dungey – KTM – 2/2

Tyla Rattray – KAW – 4/4

Justin Barcia – HON – 3/7

Mike Alessi – SUZ – 10/3

Trey Canard – HON – 7/5

Ryan Sipes – SUZ – 6/6

Josh Grant – YAM – 5/8

Jake Weimer – KAW – 8/9

Broc Tickle – SUZ – 11/11

Phil Nicoletti – YAM – 9/14

Justin Brayton – YAM – 15/10

Malcolm Stewart – HON – 12/12

Chad Reed – HON – 14/13

Vince Friese – KTM – 17/15

250 Results:

Marvin Musquin – KTM – 2/1

Ken Roczen – KTM – 1/2

Eli Tomac – HON – 3/4

Zach Osborne – HON – 10/3

Blake Baggett – KAW – 4/8

Justin Bogle – KAW – 5/9

Jeremy Martin – YAM – 9/6

Cooper Webb – YAM – 6/11

Joey Savatgy – KTM – 13/5

Jason Anderson – SUZ – 12/7

Kyle Cunningham – YAM – 7/16

Martin Davalos – KAW – 14/10

Justin Hill – KAW – 11/13

Darryn Durham – KAW – 8/34

Blake Wharton – SUZ – 35/12

AMA Motocross Round 1 Recap

Ryan Villopoto and Ken Roczen Sweep 2013 Opener at Hangtown

With a record event attendance of nearly 25,000 fans, the 45th running of the Red Bull Hangtown Motocross Classic proved to be one for the history books as the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, kicked off in Sacramento, Calif. on Saturday. After missing an entire season in 2012 due to injury, Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto made a valiant return, sweeping both 450 Class motos atop one of the most stacked fields in the series' recent history. Additionally, Red Bull KTM's Ken Roczen claimed his first career 250 Class overall victory at Hangtown.

Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart, who missed most of the second half of the 2012 season, made a comeback of his own by grabbing the Motorcycle-Superstore.com holeshot in Moto 1, garnering one point toward the overall championship holeshot bonus of $25,000 in the 450 Class. However, keeping the lead wasn't an easy task as three other former 450 Class Champions and several returning contenders chased the 2008 champ early on.

Stewart was 2-for-2 on holeshots Saturday

Villopoto took over the lead on the opening lap with Stewart and defending champion Ryan Dungey close in tow. The trio diced it out in the first half of Moto 1 but it was ultimately Villopoto who locked in the moto win, with Dungey in second and Stewart in third.

Team Honda Muscle Milk's Trey Canard returned to the Hangtown Motocross Classic for the first time since his 250 Class championship-winning season in 2010. Canard made a statement early on as he jumped in behind the lead battle and even closed in on Stewart near the end of Moto 1. Just behind was the epic battle for fifth place between Canard's teammate Barcia, BTO Sports/KTM's Andrew Short, Lucas Oil Troy Lee Honda's Malcolm Stewart, Smartop/MotoConcepts Mike Alessi and 450 Class rookie Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Dean Wilson. Malcolm Stewart, Alessi and Wilson experienced issues that dropped all three in the running order, while Canard and Barcia prevailed, rounding out the top five, with Short sixth.

Trey Canard posted a 5-5 score in his return

James Stewart began Moto 2 in similar fashion to the first, grabbing the Motorcycle-Superstore holeshot once again and taking over the points lead in the season-long chase for the end-of-the-year cash prize. From there, Stewart engaged in a battle for the lead with Dungey, while Villopoto followed close behind. Near the halfway mark, Villopoto made his move to the front, leaving Dungey and Stewart to fight for the second place position. Dungey bested Stewart for the second place spot in Moto 2, giving the Minnesota native second overall for the day with a pair of second place finishes. Stewart, the 2012 Hangtown winner, scored (3-3) for third place overall. Villopoto went on to secure the first overall win of the 2013 season with a score of (1-1).

Villopoto, Dungey and Stewart go 1-2-3 in both motos

"Hangtown has always been a rough place for me so for the bike to feel like it did today was amazing," Villopoto said. "I'm obviously happy with that and happy with how I rode. I feel like we're in a really good place and it's only going to get better from here."

Villopoto didn't encounter much resistance in this one

The 250 Class was set to be a showcase with a full lineup of returning contenders, including defending 250 Class Champion Blake Baggett. Fresh off a wrist injury, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider had no reservations about getting to the front early on as he grabbed the Motorcycle-Superstore holeshot in Moto 1. However, the Red Bull KTM duo of Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen quickly gained control of the lead. Musquin led three laps before his teammate commanded the lead for the remainder of Moto 1.

GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac began the first moto just outside of the top five but made his way into podium contention early on. Tomac first set his sights on Musquin and then made his way around Baggett to eventually secure second place in Moto 1. Baggett finished third, while Musquin took fourth and MyPlash Star RacingYamaha/Metal Mulisha's Cooper Webb rounded out the top five in his Pro class debut.

Cooper Webb (left) performed well in his first moto as a pro

In Moto 2, GEICO Honda's Zach Bell grabbed the Motorcycle-Superstore holeshot but it was once again Roczen who jumped out front on the opening lap. Roczen set the pace early on and Baggett remained close in tow throughout the first half of the race. Roczen eventually put a gap on the defending champion in the final laps of Moto 2, going on to secure his first career victory in the 250 Class.

"Coming here, I didn't really know what to expect because I sort of took some time to have fun during the week off [between supercross and motocross]," Roczen said. "It's important to me to keep things fun but next week it's time to put in some work and make my performance even better."

Roczen records his first career overall win

Baggett's score of (3-2) was enough to give him second overall for the day, while Tomac went (2-3) for third overall. Musquin captured a pair of fourth places to claim fourth overall, while GEICO Honda's Zach Osborne rounded out the top five overall with a (9-5) score.

Tomac and Baggett finish on the podium in both motos, putting them back on stage for the overall podium