Ryan Villopoto leads the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series into Oakland this Saturday night. Image: Hoppenworld.com.

With three races in the books, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, season continues its west coast swing this Saturday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, a new venue to the 2011 schedule.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto regained momentum with a win last weekend to extend his points lead by five in the Supercross class.

“It was really slippery out there tonight,” said Villopoto. “The start of my race didn’t go as planned, but I was able to make up some time early on and things went my way.”

San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart lead at the midway point before crashing, finishing the race second and also retaining second in the standings.

“It felt like I had the race,” exclaimed Stewart. “I felt like after 10 [laps] I would be good, and then I lost my front end which left me frustrated.

“I had to catch back up to Ryan [Dungey] and those guys. The way the tracks are built, you can’t pass anybody, so you have to go in and bump around. You know it still worked out, I ended up second and on the box.”

Behind Villopoto is Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s ever-improving defending champion Dungey, while rookie Trey Canard sits fourth for Honda.

Fifth and sixth are Australians Chad Reed and Brett Metcalfe, both on the verge of a breakthrough performance in the coming rounds.

JDR/J-Star/KTM’s Tye Simmonds finished 15th in LA after qualifying for his first ever main event.

While the race for the top position in the Supercross class is separated by five points, the Supercross Lites class podium hosted a set of new faces making a charge at the lead.

Heading into the Dodger Stadium race last weekend, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen sat six points ahead of teammate Broc Tickle, with Rockstar Energy Suzuki’s Ryan Morais in third trailing by 15, respectively.

Cole Seeley lead all 15 laps to take home the first victory of his career and the season for the Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Honda squad.

“It was awesome to put this win together, said Seely. “I couldn’t have made this easier on myself from the start. I just kept my focus forward the whole race and I knew at one point something was going on behind me by the noise from the crowd.

“I kept the guys behind me in check around those 180 turns and made sure they weren’t gaining on my lead. I’m happy to finally make this happen.”

With this victory, Seely bumped Morais out of the third place spot, and now sits seven points behind Supercross Lites class leader Hansen.

Australia’s Ryan Marmont finished seventh in the LA main event for JDR/J-Star/KTM, set to return for his fourth round of the year at Oakland.