Villopoto unbeatable in LA

Well, well, well – look what we’ve got here. It’s round three of the AMA Supercross championship and all the contenders are still right in it – what’s more, although it’s still early days, it seems like no-one is able to establish a clear advantage.

Rub your hands with glee, friends and neighbours, 2011 is showing every sign of being an epic.

Aussie import Brett Metcalfe was quickest out of the gate on Saturday but he had Rockstar Makita Suzuki team mate Ryan Dungey in close contact, with Kevin Windham and James Stewart for company – fellow Australian Chad Reed maintained his uncharacteristically poor start to the year by crashing on lap one, although the Thunder from Down Under signalled his intent by remounting and setting off on full loud.

Reed’s lap two was a full second quicker than anyone else circulating at the time… Up front, Dungey was pressuring Metty just as Stewart was closing in on Dungey, but Ryan Villopoto was way down the pack and battling his way into the top ten after a terrible start.

Metcalfe then ruined his golden moment by crashing on lap two, gifting reigning champion Dungey the lead, but Stewart wasn’t about to let Dungey take all the glory and made the pass for first on the third lap and slowly edging away.

Behind them, Trey Canard made short work of Kevin Windham for third right behind Dungey, before a fired-up Villopoto in turn capitalised on a Canard error to nab third and apply the thumbscrews to Dungey, taking second spot just before halfway distance and immediately setting off after Stewart with Dungey in tow and Canard within sniffing distance back in fourth.

This is where it gets messy… The truculent Villopoto was in no mood for messing around, but when he got to Stewart, the pair began to indulge in some fairly feisty battling, blocking and brake-checking each other, which allowed Dungey back into the fight – Dungey made an attempt on Villopoto but almost lost it, and Canard was right there to take advantage and snaffle third.

Up front, Stewart dropped the hammer and showed every intent of pulling away, but the curse of the crash struck again and he dropped his San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha on lap eleven to gift Villopoto the lead and promote Canard and Dungey to second and third.

Stewart was back up and on it like a ninja, blitzing Dungey and Canard in consecutive laps, but by then Villopoto had a safe margin and just brought it home for his second win of the series, just under five seconds to the good and with the fastest lap to boot.

Dungey fought his way by the irrepressible Canard for third, whilst Reed ended his race long fight back in seventh behind Justin Brayton and Windham in fifth and sixth.

In the 250f class, Lucas Oil Tory Lee Honda’s Cole Seeley took a surprise gate-to-flag victory, withstanding early pressure from Hansen before the Pro Circuit Monster Energy star stalled his way to last whilst trying to pass for the lead.

Seeley found himself in front of an intense four-way battle for second between Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Martin Davalos and Kyle Cunningham, before three of them collided and went down, handing second to Tomac on a plate.

Never satisfied with second, Tomac went after Seeley but was unable to get within range, whilst Ryan Morais came out on top of a battle with Broc Tickle for third – the recovering Hansen took fifth ahead of Roczen, who had his best SX ride to date.