SX: Villopoto Takes Three-Race Win Streak Into Toronto

The 2013 Monster Energy Supercross Championship heads north of the border this weekend.

Media Release | Posted March 18, 2013 Toronto (CAN)

Monster Energy Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Kawasaki Racing)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 12 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship from Toronto, Canada will air LIVE on SPEED on Saturday, March 16th at 7:30pm ET.

In the span of five weeks, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto has climbed from a 24-point deficit and sitting third in the 450SX Class standings, to carrying a nine-point advantage as the points leader into this weekend’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, visit to Canada’s largest city of Toronto. The lone international race of the 2013 season will return to the Rogers Centre for the 12th race of the championship on Saturday night.

Live broadcast coverage of the action from Toronto can be seen exclusively on SPEED, beginning at 7:30 PM ET.

Media day is Thursday, March 21, from Noon-2:00 p.m., featuring Canadian rider Cole Thompson.

The key to Villopoto’s resurgence in the championship has been a result of a string of victories that reached three straight last weekend in Indianapolis. The reigning back-to-back Monster Energy Supercross Champion has won four of the last five races and now boasts a class-leading six victories this season.

In Indianapolis, Villopoto positioned himself inside the top three out of the gate, following Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart and Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki’s Davi Millsaps. This trio set a fast pace early and Villopoto was able to move past Millsaps for second on Lap 5 and set his sights on Stewart out front. Just one lap later, Stewart stalled his motorcycle while navigating the slowest turn on the track, which allowed Villopoto to take over the lead. Once out front, Villopoto never relinquished his hold of the top spot.

Behind Villopoto, a battle for second ensued between Millsaps and Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey. At one point it appeared as though Dungey and Millsaps may have made contact after landing from one of the largest jumps on the track, but it gave Dungey just enough of an edge to take over the position and look to track down Villopoto out front.

Dungey narrowed his deficit to mere bike lengths on several occasions and looked like he could have enough momentum to attempt a pass on Villopoto as the 20-lap Main Event began to wind down. However, a slight bobble by Dungey late in the race separated the duo and allowed Villopoto to take the win with relative ease. The win was Villopoto’s fourth consecutive inside Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.

“Lucas Oil Stadium has been great to me,” said Villopoto on the podium. “It’s an amazing stadium and I love coming here. Ryan [Dungey] was able to make up some time on me here and there, but I just kept pushing hard until the end.”

The Toronto stop will mark just the third race this season in which Villopoto’s bike will carry the red number plate that signifies the championship leader. After losing possession of the plate at the first race of the season in Anaheim, Calif., Villopoto has overcome a 16th-place start to the championship to make up a deficit in the standings that was as large as 27 points following the sixth race of the season. After taking over the points lead from Millsaps for the first time two races ago, Villopoto has almost opened a double-digit margin over his Suzuki-mounted counterpart.

After back-to-back weeks in which he posted consecutive season-worst finishes, Millsaps was back in the thick of the battle for the podium in Indianapolis. The two-time winner this season held the third and final spot on the podium on the final lap of the Main Event, but lost traction and tipped over just after the finish, forcing him to settle for fourth. However, it was the best result in three weeks for Millsaps and a much-needed boost to his hopes to reclaiming the championship lead.

With his second consecutive runner-up finish Dungey is quickly becoming an established third player in the championship, despite sitting 17 points out of the lead and eight points behind Millsaps in second. Dungey has one win already this season and the speed he showed in Indianapolis by catching Villopoto made for a competitive final half of the Main Event. He is a former winner in Toronto and has arguably been Villopoto’s biggest rival for the past three seasons, making this familiar territory.

Once again, these three riders will lead the world’s fastest riders into Canada in what is always one of the most unique and anticipated stops of the season. During the 2012 stop from the Rogers Centre, over 47,000 Canadian fans watched at Villopoto raced to his seventh win of the season. Coincidentally, he has the opportunity to capture win number seven once again in Toronto.

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