Race Report : Anaheim 1 2011

Combine a sold-out Anaheim stadium, a talented and deep field of riders, and the uncertainty of just who’d have the speed to come out on top, and this made for one of the most interesting Supercross season-openers in years.

Ryan Dungey (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) gets the early jump in the 450 main event.

In the 450 class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey got the early jump, but after the first turn it was Hart&Huntington Dodge’s Ivan Tedesco who was running out front, followed by Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Ryan took over the top spot on lap three, and sprinted to a comfortable lead.

Ivan Tedesco (Hart & Huntington Dodge) led for three laps.

But the more interesting action was deeper in the field, where both Chad Reed (TwoTwo Motorsports) and James Stewart (San Manuel Red Bull Yamaha) had gated badly, and were busy working their way to the front. They came around together in 11th and 12th on the first lap, but James was more adept at slicing through the pack, and he was ninth on lap two (passing Kyle Chisholm, Andrew Short, and Davi Millsaps). He picked off a rider per lap over the next couple circuits, moving into seventh by lap four.

James Stewart was on a mission, slicing through the pack after a bad start. Speed is not a question.

Just a few spots ahead of James, Trey Canard was also making forward progress, moving from ninth to fourth by lap six. Trey’s night had started badly, after being t-boned in his heat race, and missing the transfer spot and having to come through the LCQ to make it to the main event.

When Stewart finally caught and passed Canard, it was for third spot on lap 13, and the top three was effectively settled at that point, with similar gaps of two to three seconds between the trio of riders. Ryan Villopoto scored his first race of the season, in his first race back since breaking his leg at St. Louis last year. Ryan Dungey had a solid second place to start his title defense, and James Stewart showed some serious speed in his return to action as well. The rest of the top ten was filled out with Trey Canard (American Honda Racing), Chad Reed, Kevin Windham (GEICO Honda), Ivan Tedesco, Brett Metcalfe (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), Josh Grant (American Honda Racing), and Andrew Short (Red Bull KTM). It should be a great season.

Ryan Villopoto made his hard work rehabbing and training following the broken leg that ended his season pay off, scoring a first win of the season.

The 250 class was a clean sweep for the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad of Josh Hansen, Broc Tickle, and Tyla Rattray. Tickle grabbed the early lead, handled a brief challenge for the lead by Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda’s Christian Craig, and held the lead until just past the halfway point when Josh Hansen began to pressure him. Broc conceded the spot, thinking that he’d have a chance to retaliate later in the race, but Hansen motored away to the win. Tyla Rattray scored third, which was a solid result after a hard practice crash. He credited the Asterisk Mobile Medical crew with getting him back on the track following that one.

The Lites class main event blasts towards the first turn. Broc Tickle got there first.

The remainder of the top ten filled out like this: Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy Suzuki), Cole Seely (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda), and Ryan Morais (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) picked up fourth, fifth and sixth. Ken Roczen (Red Bull KTM) was impressive in his debut, picking up seventh, while Travis Baker (Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda), Nick Paluzzi (DNA Shred Stix / Star Racing / Yamaha), and Eli Tomac (GEICO Powersports Honda) rounded out the final spots.

Broc Tickle (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) led just over the first half of the race.

With one round in, and some awesome action in the books, we’ve got a few questions answered on who has speed, and who might have some work to do. But we also can’t wait to see what happens in Phoenix next weekend for round two.

Chalk up the A1 Lites win for Josh Hansen.

Results

2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Anaheim, CA

Supercross Lites Heat 1
1. Broc Tickle

2. Ryan Morais

3. Eli Tomac

4. Tyla Rattray

5. Topher Ingalls

6. Antonio Balbi

7. Ben Evans

8. Bruce Rutherford

9. Dakota Tedder

Supercross Lites Heat 2
1. Josh Hansen

2. Nick Paluzzi

3. Travis Baker

4. Ken Roczen

5. Kyle Cunningham

6. Cole Seely

7. Cody Gilmore

8. Ryan Marmont

9. Travis Bright

Supercross Heat 1
1. Justin Brayton

2. Kevin Windham

3. Ryan Dungey

4. Davi Millsaps

5. Tommy Hahn

6. Chris Blose

7. Kyle Chisholm

8. Kyle Regal

9. Jason Thomas

Supercross Heat 2
1. James Stewart

2. Ryan Villopoto

3. Brett Metcalfe

4. Chad Reed

5. Josh Grant

6. Ivan Tedesco

7. Andrew Short

8. Matt Boni

9. Mike Alessi

Supercross Lites LCQ
1. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)

2. Christian Craig (Honda)

Supercross LCQ
1. Trey Canard (Honda)

2. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

Supercross Lites Main Event
1. Josh Hansen (Kawasaki)

2. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki)

3. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki)

4. Martin Davalos (Suzuki)

5. Cole Seely (Honda)

6. Ryan Morais (Suzuki)

7. Ken Roczen (KTM)

8. Travis Baker (Honda)

9. Nick Paluzzi (Yamaha)

10. Eli Tomac (Honda)

11. Antonio Balbi (Kawasaki)

12. Ben Evans (Kawasaki)

13. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha)

14. Ryan Marmont (KTM)

15. Cody Gilmore (Kawasaki)

16. Bruce Rutherford (Kawasaki)

17. Travis Bright (Honda)

18. Dakota Tedder (Kawasaki)

19. Christian Craig (Honda)

20. Topher Ingalls (Honda)

Supercross Main Event
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki)

2. Ryan Dungey (Suzuki)

3. James Stewart (Yamaha)

4. Trey Canard (Honda)

5. Chad Reed (Honda)

6. Kevin Windham (Honda)

7. Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki)

8. Brett Metcalfe (Suzuki)

9. Josh Grant (Honda)

10. Andrew Short (KTM)

11. Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha)

12. Nick Wey (Yamaha)

13. Kyle Regal (Yamaha)

14. Mike Alessi (KTM)

15. Jason Thomas (Suzuki)

16. Justin Brayton (Yamaha)

17. Chris Blose (Kawasaki)

18. Matt Boni (Kawasaki)

19. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha)

20. Tommy Hahn (Yamaha)