Race Report: Oakland SX 2012

Supercross Qualifying

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer jumped out front in heat one of the 450 class, and he led the field of riders into the first turn. Instantly, Ryan Dungey started to put in some work on the Kawi rider, and he made the move stick before the end of the first lap. Geico Honda’s Kevin Windham got a top five start, and he was able to start picking off riders right away. By the third lap, K-Dub was on Weimer, and he was able to make the pass on the younger rider. TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray/Honda’s was another rider that was fighting through the pack, and by the halfway point, he too was on the rear wheel of Weimer. Weimer lost one more position to Reed, and he fell back to fourth. Dungey put in a smooth ride on his Red Bull KTM 450SX-F, and he crossed the finish first ahead of Windham and Reed.

Heat One Results

1. Ryan Dungey (KTM)

2. Kevin Windham (Hon)

3. Chad Reed (Hon)

4. Jake Weimer (Kaw)

5. Brett Metcalfe (Suz)

6. Kyle Partridge (Kaw)

7. Nick Wey (Kaw)

8. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw)

9. Cody Mackie (Kaw)

When the gates dropped for the second heat of the 450 class, Justin Brayton powered up front on his Muscle Milk Honda, just ahead of Andrew Short. Shorty quickly jumped into the lead, the 19 other riders around the track. After the first lap, the running order was Short, Brayton, Tickle, Stewart, and Thomas. Stewart made the pass on Tickle, and he found himself mixing it up with Brayton for third. As soon as Stewart made the pass on Brayton, the Honda rider quickly made the pass back. However, James was able to get him back one more time. Short was having a smooth rider up front, but he quickly had some company for Stewart. Going into the long flat left handed turn, Stewart snuck on the inside of Short to take the lead. Not far behind was Ryan Villopoto who was blitzing through the pack. When the white flag came out, Villopoto had significantly closed the gap on Stewart, but the Yamaha rider was able to take the heat race win.

Heat Two Results

1. James Stewart (Yam)

2. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)

3. Andrew Short (Hon)

4. Justin Brayton (Hon)

5. Davi Millsaps (Yam)

6. Broc Tickle (Kaw)

7. Josh Hansen (Kaw)

8. Ben Lamay (Yam)

9. Weston Peick (Kaw)

Supercross LCQ

1. Mike Alessi (Suz)

2. Robert Kiniry (Yam)

Supercross Main

Los Angeles Supercross 450 winner Chad Reed stormed out of the gates on his TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray/Honda inside the O.co Stadium, and grabbed the Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Award just ahead of Andrew Short. When the green flag came out to indicate that the race was one lap in, Reed, Short, Hansen, Stewart, and Villopoto sat inside the top five. Stewart was the first rider in the group to start plucking away at positions as he maneuvered around the Oakland track. Within two laps, the JGR rider had worked his way into second place, right behind Reed. Right behind them, Short continued to maintain his third place position, while Villopoto moved into fourth and Windham into fifth. Five laps into the 20 lap main, Villopoto made his way around Short, and he was now tailing Stewart and Reed. The three riders maintained a tight distance between each other, and they started to pull way from the pack. Villopoto sat behind Stewart for a couple of laps, but then he started to really put some pressure on the Yamaha rider. Each time, Stewart was able to close the door on the Kawi rider. Finally, Stewart started to apply some pressure on Reed about 10 laps in, and he was able to make the pass shortly after. As Stewart started to slowly pull away from Reed, Villopoto quickly tried to make a pass on the TwoTwo Motorsports rider. As with Stewart, Reed was able to shut the door on Villopoto whenever he tried to go to make a pass.

After the halfway mark, Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey had worked his way into the fourth place, but he was too far away from the top three riders. Lap after lap, Stewart, Reed, and Villopoto were able to spread themselves out from one another, as each rider had a little bit of a cushion between them. When the checker flag was pulled out, Stewart took his first win of the season with Reed and Villopoto in tow.

 

Top Lap Times
1. Ryan Villopoto 54.040
2. James Stewart 54.299
3. Chad Reed 54.560
4. Ryan Dungey 54.734
5. Kevin Windham 55.098

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