Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart’s celebrates his first overall win of 2013. Image: Simon Cudby.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart broke through for his first overall win in the 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Spring Creek, pairing an opening moto win with a third place to hold out Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard by a single point.

The ninth round of the championship produced a mix bag of results for the 450 class, with the ultimate result seeing Ryan Dungey’s five-year run of first place finishes ended.

Canard’s Honda teammate Justin Barcia took the Motorcycle Superstore Holeshot down the long start straight, and the factory Honda pairing would find themselves in an early battle for the lead.

Stewart was in hot pursuit of the Hondas and made an early move to take both Canard and Barcia for the lead of the moto which he would hold until race end.

The battle for second would continue to rage between Barcia and Canard, with the latter soon breaking away from the former and setting his sights on breakaway Stewart.

Canard made a concerted effort to reel in the Yoshimura Suzuki but was forced to settle for second, with Barcia in third.

Toyota JGR Yamaha rider Josh Grant was a solid fourth, beating home championship protagonists Ryan Dungey (fifth) and Ryan Villopoto (sixth) who battled their share of problems in the opener.

Red Bull KTM’s Dungey was left to rue a series of early mistakes that dropped him as low as 11th, while Villopoto crashed on the opening lap and was forced to find his way back from a lowly 28th.

BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short, RCH Racing’s Broc Tickle, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer and TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed rounded out the remaining places in the top 10.

Buoyed by his moto one win, Stewart secured the early holeshot in the second moto, holding out Dungey in the initial stages before the KTM man made his way by.

Stewart and Canard resumed their battle, and although the Muscle Milk Honda was able to move into second, the 2-2 results ultimately ended a point shy of the 1-3 that handed the Yoshimura Suzuki the win.

Villopoto finished fourth in moto two, with Barcia, Mike Alessi, Reed, Short, Weimer and Tickle filling places five through 10.

Stewart was pleased to stand atop the overall podium but admitted it was some of the toughest competition he had faced in 2013.

“Things just came together today but it was probably the hardest two motos I’ve ridden since last year,” Stewart said. “We’re just building for next year so any little bit helps. I want to finish this thing [season] and get a couple more wins to carry the momentum into next season.”

The 450 class podium was rounded out by Dungey, whose 5-1 results netted him a good haul of championship points.

Villopoto remains in command of the class, with a 34-point buffer over Dungey following the ninth round.

In the 250 class it was GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn taking the early holeshot in moto one, with local rider, Myplash Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin in close check.

Hahn’s teammate Justin Bogle, Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen and the Yamaha of Martin scrapped over the minor podium placings before Martin broke free and made a swift move to relieve Hahn of the lead.

The third GEICO Honda mount of Eli Tomac was closing quickly, however, and it didn’t take long until he had made his way past each rider to take over the lead.

Martin held on for an impressive second, while Bogle found himself fading in the closing stages, allowing the Rockstar Energy Suzuki of Jason Anderson onto the podium.

Roczen was a high-profile casualty amongst the front-runners, crashing out of contention.

Hahn secured his second holeshot of the day in moto two, though the early battle for the lead would be between Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett and the recovering Roczen.

Baggett and Roczen swapped places at the front of the field a number of times, but again it was the GEICO Honda of Tomac who would find his way through and hold on for a second win.

Roczen maintained second in the moto, with Baggett also holding his ground in third.

Tomac’s 1-1 handed him a clear win, but minor podium placings were determined on consistency, with Marvin Musquin’s 4-4 results good for second overall, while Anderson’s 3-5 netted him third.

With three rounds and six motos left to run it is Tomac with a 27-point advantage over Roczen, while Musquin is a further 44 points in arrears in the 250 title race.

The 2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship continues at New Berlin for the Built Ford Tough Unadilla National on 10 August.

2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Round nine – Spring Creek, MN

450 Class overall results:
1. James Stewart 45
2. Trey Canard 44
3. Ryan Dungey 41
4. Justin Barcia 36
5. Ryan Villopoto 33
6. Andrew Short 27
7. Mike Alessi 25
8. Chad Reed 25
9. Jake Weimer 24
10. Broc Tickle 24

450 Class championship standings (after nine of 12 rounds):
1. Ryan Villopoto 413
2. Ryan Dungey 379
3. Justin Barcia 307
4. James Stewart 269
5. Trey Canard 263
6. Mike Alessi 195
7. Andrew Short 191
8. Jake Weimer 184
9. Broc Tickle 183
10. Josh Grant 176

250 Class overall results:
1. Eli Tomac 50
2. Marvin Musquin 36
3. Jason Anderson 36
4. Jeremy Martin 36
5. Blake Baggett 35
6. Justin Bogle 21
7. Wil Hahn 26
8. Justin Hill 24
9. Ken Roczen 22
10. Zach Osborne 22

250 Class championship standings (after nine of 12 rounds):
1. Eli Tomac 405
2. Ken Roczen 378
3. Marvin Musquin 334
4. Blake Baggett 295
5. Zach Osborne 261
6. Jason Anderson 238
7. Justin Bogle 209
8. Jeremy Martin 207
9. Kyle Cunningham 183
10. Cooper Webb 170

Click here for detailed results