Villopoto and Tomac win, Metcalfe seventh at Unadilla
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 450 and 250 class points leaders put together flawless performances at the weekend's 10th round of competition at Unadilla, with Ryan Villopoto and Eli Tomac extending their class leads in the series' home stretch.
Ryan Villopoto cleared out from the pack at Unadilla, claiming both 450 class holeshots for 1-1 finishes. Image: Simon Cudby.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship 450 and 250 class points leaders put together flawless performances at the weekend’s 10th round of competition at Unadilla, with Ryan Villopoto and Eli Tomac extending their class leads in the series’ home stretch.
The scenic New Berlin facility hosted the final East coast round on the calendar, with the championship to be fought out on the West coast across consecutive weekends.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto proved unstoppable, sweeping the day with 1-1 finishes and holeshots in both motos.
He led the first moto early from Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, who was kept busy in the initial stages by the BTO Sports KTM of Andrew Short and the N-FAB/TiLube Yamaha of Canadian Motocross Championship protagonist Bobby Kiniry.
Short would fade as the laps ground down, while Kiniry dropped out due to a mechanical failure, with the Team Muscle Milk Hondas of Justin Barcia and Trey Canard joining Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart in a forwards march.
Stewart would eventually claim third after pressuring Dungey, while Barcia took fourth. Canard, meanwhile, dropped out, also suffering a mechanical DNF.
The second moto belonged to Villopoto from the outset, with the Kawasaki rider making an early break and securing 14th moto win of the season, and sixth overall victory.
Barcia matched Villopoto’s pace early, and would go on to finish a solid second for the moto and second overall.
The opening lap saw a number of class frontrunners mixed up in a melee, with Canard, Stewart and Mike Alessi amongst the many that were caught up.
Dungey had made a mid-pack start too but fought his way back up the order, eventually held to fourth after a strong performance from Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer.
Newly-crowned Canadian Motocross Champion, Australia’s Brett Metcalfe was well in the mix at Unadilla, with 10-6 moto finishes landing him an impressive seventh outright.
It was another tough outing for countryman Chad Reed, with the former 450 class champion going 17-12 for 13th overall on the day.
GEICO Honda’s Tomac proved too fast to catch for the 250 class contenders, with the clear leader scoring 1-1 finishes to capture his fifth overall victory of the 2013 season.
Teammate Wil Hahn led the opening moto early, with Myplash Metal Mulisha Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin soon taking the lead.
Hahn engaged in a spirited battle with Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen, but neither could stop the advances of Tomac who moved by both and assumed the lead from Martin, who held on for second.
Zach Osborne, another GEICO Honda-mounted man, moved into the top three in the closing stages.
The holeshot for moto two belonged to the Pro Circuit Kawasaki machine of Martin Davalos, but Roczen soon found his way into the lead.
Up front early were Martin, Justin Bogle, Davalos and Roczen, with Tomac again fighting his way from behind.
The race went to the wire between Tomac and Roczen, with the former prevailing over the latter and building upon his championship advantage.
2-3 finishes for Martin saw him finish on the second step of the podium for the 10th round, while Roczen rounded out the top three. Osborne was fourth overall from defending champion Blake Baggett.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship continues this weekend at Tooele, UT., before the series final at Lake Elsinore, CA. the following weekend.
2013 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Round 10 – Unadilla, NY.
450 Class overall top 10:
1. Ryan Villopoto 50
2. Justin Barcia 40
3. Ryan Dungey 40
4. Jake Weimer 32
5. Josh Grant 32
6. Andrew Short 29
7. Brett Metcalfe 26
8. Broc Tickle 26
9. Justin Brayton 22
10. Phil Nicoletti 20
13. Chad Reed (Aus) 13
450 Class championship standings (after 10 of 12 rounds):
1. Ryan Villopoto 463
2. Ryan Dungey 419
3. Justin Barcia 347
4. James Stewart Jr. 289
5. Trey Canard 263
6. Andrew Short 220
7. Jake Weimer 216
8. Broc Tickle 209
9. Josh Grant 208
10. Mike Alessi 204
13. Chad Reed (Aus) 157
250 Class overall top 10:
1. Eli Tomac 50
2. Jeremy Martin 42
3. Ken Roczen 38
4. Zach Osborne 35
5. Blake Baggett 34
6. Justin Bogle 29
7. Will Hahn 28
8. Marvin Musquin 25
9. Cole Seely 23
10. Martin Davalos 22
250 Class championship standings (after 10 of 12 rounds):
1. Eli Tomac 455
2. Ken Roczen 416
3. Marvin Musquin 359
4. Blake Baggett 329
5. Zach Osborne 296
6. Jeremy Martin 249
7. Jason Anderson 248
8. Justin Bogle 238
9. Kyle Cunningham 204
10. Cole Seely 192
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