Ryan Villopoto looks to be gaining momentum in his 2013 Monster Energy Supercross title defence after two back-to-back wins. Image: Simon Cudby.

After a bumpy start to his 2013 Monster Energy Supercross campaign, Ryan Villopoto looks to have turned his season around, gaining dangerous momentum after taking back-to-back 450SX wins at Anaheim II and the most recent Oakland event.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider was able to avoid early carnage during the Oakland main event and began to stretch out a sizeable lead over the rest of the field, leading from start to finish with an impressive performance.

After making slight adjustments to the bike during the night and laying down a solid 20 laps, the defending champion believes everything is starting to come together for himself and his team.

“This was a good win for us, my guys on the Monster Energy Kawasaki team made a few minor changes to the bike today and they paid off tonight,” said Villopoto. “Everything is starting to come together for us right now.

“It was a difficult balance for me tonight, the track was very challenging and it was easy to fall into a groove where you go a little slower. I built a big lead early so without being pushed from behind, I had to concentrate on going fast and getting the lap times I needed.”

Villopoto and his crew will continue to work on their setup each week in order to continue building on this momentum from rounds three and four.

“We are always working to improve the bike,” he added. “Every week we continue to work on our settings to get the bike dialed-in. We’ve been making progress each week and we need to build on this momentum.”

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer had the complete opposite night to his winning teammate. After battling illness leading up to the Oakland event, he was forced to sit out of the night program following just a few laps of riding during practice.

“I’ve been fighting this sickness all week,” said Weimer. “I haven’t been able to train or ride until today. After riding in practice I knew I could go hard for one or two laps but I didn’t feel strong enough to be able to go a full 20.

“After practice the team and I decided to sit out this week and hopefully be ready for Anaheim. I’m on the upside of this thing so I’m hoping to get back to training and getting back onto the track.”

Villopoto now sits third overall in the 450SX championship standings, just eight points behind leader Davi Millsaps. Weimer drops down to seventh in the points chase after sitting out round four.