Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto further stretched his lead at the top of the United States Supercross Championship rankings with another win, this time in Toronto, the 12th round of 17 in the series, on Saturday night.

The lone international stop of Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship thrilled more than 48,000 Canadian fans at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on Saturday night.

For the seventh time this season, Villopoto took the chequered flag, increasing his lead in the 450SX class championship while also extending his current winning streak to four races. In the 250SX class, French KTM rider Marvin Musquin captured his third consecutive win in the Eastern Regional Championship, gaining ground in the standings with a wire-to-wire effort.

The 450SX class main event was one of the most captivating of the season as Villopoto claimed the holeshot but lost the lead shortly thereafter to Australian Honda rider Chad Reed. Suzuki’s Davi Millsaps followed Reed past Villopoto as well, into second, setting the stage for a thrilling battle that also included  KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Suzuki’s James Stewart.

Millsaps was able to slip past Reed for the lead on the second lap of the race and set the pace for the first half of the 20-lap Main Event. On Lap 3, Villopoto moved past Reed into second and set his sights on Millsaps out front. One lap later, Dungey moved into podium position.

Mere bike lengths separated Millsaps and Villopoto for the next eight laps with Villopoto attempting to slip by his championship rival on several occasions. On Lap 11 just after the finish, Villopoto slipped inside Millsaps and was able to take over the position. Once out front, Villopoto pulled away for his 31st career 450SX Class victory and became the first rider to win back-to-back races in Toronto during the six years the Rogers Centre has been a stop on the Monster Energy Supercross schedule.

“It was unbelievable,” exclaimed Villopoto. “Davi is riding really well and he was riding exceptionally well [tonight]. I got around him with about halfway to go [in the main event] and I was able to get a little bit of a gap. Everybody up here [on the podium] is unbelievable and it shows how fast we really are when we run a pace like that on a track that was so [difficult].”

Millsaps went unchallenged en route to a runner-up effort, signifying his first podium finish since a third-place effort in Atlanta four races ago.

“It was definitely a good race,” said Millsaps. “I got off to a pretty good start and I just tried to ride my own race as much as I could. I made a lot of mistakes here and there, and throughout the first half of the race. Ryan eventually got by me and I did the best I could to keep up and do whatever I could.”

Shortly after Villopoto took over the lead, Dungey stalled his bike while trying to close the gap on Millsaps, losing the third spot to Reed. Just a couple laps later, Dungey reclaimed the position to secure his third consecutive podium finish.

Villopoto now carries a 12-point lead over Millsaps into the 13th race of the season. Dungey sits 22 points out of the lead in third.

Musquin was the first rider to cross the stripe for the holeshot, followed by privateer Honda rider Jimmy DeCotis and Slaton Racing’s Vince Friese. Both Suzuki’s Blake Wharton and Honda’s Wil Hahn, Musquin’s primary championship rivals, started inside the top five and began to work their way forward.

On lap two, DeCotis crashed out of second, allowing both Wharton and Hahn to gain a position on the track. Before long, Wharton and Hahn began to battle for second, which helped Musquin extend his lead. On lap six, Hahn made the move for the position and attempted to catch Musquin out front.

The French rider maintained his advantage for the remainder of the 15-lap main event and won by over three seconds. Prior to the 2013 season, Musquin had never won a Monster Energy Supercross Main Event, but now he has won three in-a-row and is closing in on the lead in the championship.

“Today my confidence wasn’t so much there because I had a crash [in practice],” said Musquin. “But I really need to thank the team, because they are better than me and helped push me tonight. It was a tough day. I had a great start [in the main event] and it’s such a good feeling when you’re hurting because you don’t know what’s going to happen. It was great.”

Hahn, the current championship leader, minimized the damage done to his lead in the standings by finishing second. Wharton held off a late charge by Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin to finish third.

“I need to get my starts back, it’s killing me right now,” said Hahn. “I’ve got to turn my brain back on and I’ve got to get back on that top step [of the podium] where I belong.”

Hahn’s lead in the Eastern Regional Championship now sits at six points over Musquin as both riders search for their first career Monster Energy Supercross titles.

Monster Energy Supercross will observe the Easter holiday next weekend before returning to action on Saturday, April 6, from Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

 

450SX Round 12 Results: Toronto

1. Ryan Villopoto

2. Davi Millsaps

3. Ryan Dungey

4. Chad Reed

5. Justin Barcia

6. Jake Weimer

7. James Stewart

8. Broc Tickle

9. Andrew Short

10. Matt Goerke

11. Justin Brayton

12. Phil Nicoletti

13. Josh Hill

14. Ben LaMay

15. Robert Kiniry

16. Chris Blose

17. Justin Sipes

18. Weston Peick

19. Les Smith

20. Mike Alessi

 

450SX Championship Points after round 12 of 17

1. Ryan Villopoto 252 Pts

2. Davi Millsaps 240 Pts

3. Ryan Dungey 230 Pts

4. Chad Reed 196 Pts

5. Justin Barcia 184 Pts

6. James Stewart 169 Pts

7. Trey Canard 165 Pts

8. Andrew Short 148 Pts

9. Justin Brayton122 Pts

10. Broc Tickle 122 Pts

11. Matt Goerke 119 Pts

12. Jake Weimer 94 Pts

13. Mike Alessi 84 Pts

14. Weston Peick 59 Pts

15. Eli Tomac 52 Pts

16. Josh Grant 40 Pts

17. Jimmy Albertson 38 Pts

18. Kyle Chisholm 38 Pts

19. Josh Hill 37 Pts

20. Robert Kiniry 37 Pts

 

250SX West Round 15 Results: Toronto

1. Marvin Musquin

2. Wil Hahn

3. Blake Wharton

4. Jeremy Martin

5. Vince Friese

6. Cole Thompson

7. Jimmy DeCotis

8. Gavin Faith

9. Jackson Richardson

10. Kyle Peters

11. PJ Larsen

12. AJ Catanzaro

13. Lance Vincent

14. Levi Kilbarger

15. Zach Freeberg

16. Kyle Hussey

17. David Buller

18. Austin Coon

19. Brady Kiesel

20. Justin Hill

 

250SX West Championship Points after round 5 of 9

1. Wil Hahn 134 Pts

2. Marvin Musquin 128 Pts

3. Blake Wharton 108 Pts

4. Dean Wilson 87 Pts

5. Vince Friese 81 Pts

6. Kyle Peters 78 Pts

7. Jeremy Martin 71 Pts

8. Justin Hill 68 Pts

9. Gavin Faith 66 Pts

10. Jimmy DeCotis 66 Pts

11. Cole Thompson 57 Pts

12. Mitch Oldenburg 49 Pts

13. AJ Catanzaro 45 Pts

14. PJ Larsen 40 Pts

15. Lance Vincent 38 Pts

16. Zach Bell 37 Pts

17. Zach Freeberg 35 Pts

18. Jackson Richardson 26 Pts

19. Levi Kilbarger 24 Pts

20. Steven Clarke 16 Pts

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com