Salt Lake City Supercross Insider 2011

When MotoUSA first arrived in Salt Lake City for the penultimate round of the 2011 AMA Supercross Championship, we thought it was going to be a disaster. Snow flurries were being carried everywhere by strong gusts of wind. But as luck would have it the clouds broke by Saturday morning, and by early afternoon the smell of exhaust was thick in the air as bikes first made their way to the track for practice. The circuit in Salt Lake featured an abnormally long starting straight, which stretched from one corner of Rice-Eccles Stadium to the other. The layout offered a perfect view of San Manuel Yamaha’s James Stewart as he blasted the competition off the line with a clear holeshot during the main event of the evening.
 
Rewinding back to the early afternoon qualifying session, Stewart appeared as a natural favorite for the win. Looking both calm and comfortable, Stewart strung together combos through complex rhythm sections that left others losing significant time. One of the main adversaries of the evening: the whoops section. Featuring jumps that were irregularly spaced apart, riders had two options on how to approach them. One of the popular methods was to hop through the first section and then triple over the remaining obstacles. The other method, largely utilized by Stewart, was to bulldoze through them.
 
The track’s technical layout played in favor of Stewart as he grabbed the fastest time during qualifying. After winning his heat against Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey, JS7 was a shoe-in for his third consecutive victory. But as we’ve seen too many times this season, Stewart failed to deliver in a clutch situation. On Lap 8 while leading the main, Stewart got complacent and washed out the front end. While the mistake was major and allowed the top-three riders to get by, it paled in comparison to Stewart’s crash over the bars just seconds later. Taking place in the nasty whoop section, Stewart – already dazed and looking to make up ground – lost control a second time as his bike did a downward dive into the dirt. It was a catastrophic mistake that Stewart was slow to recover from. The second victim in the race for the 2011 crown had been claimed, the first being Honda's Trey Canard who broke his femur just three rounds out from the season finale. No one was more upset about their performance than Stewart.
 
“Things didn’t go to plan,” said Stewart. “I had the lead and then washed the front end out and then went over the handlebars in the whoops. It has just been that kind of season. I want to thank all my sponsors for everything. It has been an up-and-down season but we will continue to try and get better. I’m pretty bummed out right now but we are walking out of here healthy and will try to get a win next week in Vegas.”

Following his second crash and a brief trip off-track for a repair, Stewart positioned himself in between RV and Reed. After being lapped by RV, JS7 was repeatedly shown the blue flag to allow Reed by. There were some tense moments as Stewart failed to allow room for the pass, but Stewart eventually made the gentlemanly move for the Aussie to get by. It was nice to see, especially given the rough history between the two.
 
One cannot emphasize enough how brutal the competition was in Round 16. Second place was no longer good enough as everyone but the victor left upset over performances that, at any other point in the season, would have been touted as solid displays.
 
The true star of the evening, smiling from ear-to-ear atop the podium, was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto. Leading the series by six points coming into Utah, RV needed a win to provide breathing room for the final race of the season. Landing in fourth after the start, Villopoto managed passes throughout the early laps to sit directly behind Stewart before his crash. Win No. 6 came in clear view for him as he witnessed Stewart go down for the first time. RV’s latest victory gives him the lead by nine points in the series with just one round left in Las Vegas.
 
“This season it’s been crazy," said Villopoto. "You just have to stay up on two wheels and minimize the mistakes. We’ve all made big mistakes this year. I think everybody is going so fast and tracks are so tough, so mistakes are going to happen.”
 
In addition to Stewart’s disappointment over his performance, TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed wasn’t a happy camper either. Like the other top-four riders in the series, Reed desperately needed a win to gain better footing for the season finale.
 
“I’m just disappointed in that ride,” said Reed. “I was just riding a little too tight across the whoops. It was good one lap and then the next I was just average.”
 
Despite Reed’s poor portrayal of his own performance, the Aussie did post one of his most memorable rides of the season. Rather than being relegated and accepting his runner-up status, Reed bitterly fought toward the end of the 20-lap contest, keeping Villopoto honest the whole way through. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough and he dropped back in relation to RV by three points.
 
Third in the series and 12 points behind Villopoto in the championship, Dungey also lost points to RV in Salt Lake City. Despite another round of consistent riding that ended with a finish on the box, Dungey was forced to accept the reduced likelihood of him defending his 2010 SX title. 

"I felt good, but I just wasn't matching the lap times and was losing a lot of ground," said Dungey. "Overall, we did the best we could and we just have to put this away and learn from it and look forward to Vegas next weekend and try to go for a win."
 
The Lites class offered its own shocker as well when Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Josh Hansen crashed twice in the opening laps of the main. Down in the series by two points, Hansen needed a win before Las Vegas to outdo his teammate and current leader in the series, Broc Tickle. Enter Honda’s Eli Tomac. After rounding the first turn in fourth, Tomac did a slingshot maneuver to jump into the lead. Hansen went after Tomac vehemently in the opening lap, but it ended in bitter frustration for him as he was on the losing side of a pass attempt. Like Stewart, Hansen was also tripped up a second time following his initial crash. He was visually frustrated as he got back up and went on to record a finish outside the top-10.
 
“It’s definitely nice that I can control my own destiny now,” said Tomac. “There’s just a three-point gap between first and second now, so it’s awesome.”
 
Tomac also brought up his exchange with Hansen which left the Kawasaki rider on the floor:
 
“I definitely felt him [Josh Hansen] come in on me, but I tried to take that turn a little tight because I kind of had a feeling he was going to bomb it in there. I think I leaned on him a little bit tighter than he thought, so that made him wash-out.”
Overall, Tickle left feeling unhappy with the night’s results. While his podium finish in Salt Lake was commendable on its own, it failed to live up to the tough standards being set this late in the season.

Tickle may have lost points in the process, but he didn’t go down without a fight. One of the main attractions of the evening, Tickle’s battle with Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen lasted for much of the main as the two went at it back and forth. After being passed by Roczen, Tickle stayed with the German rider but could never make the pass. Overall, Tickle left feeling unhappy with the night’s results. While his podium finish in Salt Lake was commendable on its own, it failed to live up to the tough standards being set this late in the season.
 
“I’ve been doing everything I can and working really hard,” said Tickle. “I struggled again tonight, and I just hope I can get everything worked out by Vegas to take that No. 1 plate home. That’s what we’re looking for, and that’s what I’ve been working really hard for.”