Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 27 JULY 9, 2013 Ken Roczen came away with the 250-class win but didn't gain any points on championship rival Eli Tomac. moto, and the two riders sought out nearly every combination of rutted lines in order to find an edge over the other. All the while, Dungey lay in wait not far behind. At one point, Villopoto tried an outside line to make a pass, but at the exit his line converged with Stewart's and the two riders came together with Villopoto going off the track. He was quickly back on the track, though, and in another lap he was around the Yoshimura Suzuki rider and into the lead for good. At the finish, Villopoto completed his sweep, taking the win by 32.519 seconds over Stewart, with Dungey (who had fallen) another 26 seconds back in third. It was certainly Villopoto's best performance since Lakewood and he said afterwards that it all came down to lines selection on this day. "I didn't have the best of starts, but I was able to make a few quick passes and get in the lead right away and get a gap in that first moto," said Villopoto. "It was definitely a lot closer that second moto. I was able to get in behind James at the first part of the moto and he was riding well. I felt like I had some better lines, but then you come into the turn on a different line and they would come together, so it was difficult. But once I was able to get around him, we were able to up the pace, although Dungey got around James, too, and picked up the pace as well." Stewart ended the day in second overall with a 2-2 tally, a big improvement over his recent results, although he has lately shown flashes where he looked capable of turning things around for the good. "James was riding really well," P49 Briefly... kind of a goat trail, and I think this is how all the tracks should be prepped." Josh Grant, a former winner at RedBud, showed signs of his old self. "I've always enjoyed riding at this track," he said. "It's one of those tracks I've always felt comfortable at. It's got big jumps and it kind of suits my style. It's got a great atmosphere, I like the crowd when they're going nuts, and it's something you can feed off of." Defending 250 champ Blake Baggett just couldn't get good starts at RedBud. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider started out moto one in 17th but was able to make it up to eighth at the finish. In the second moto, Baggett was running eighth when he dropped to 11th in one lap. He got one of those positions back and ended up ninth overall. Ryan Villopoto talked about when he and Stewart came together, causing him to veer off the track. "I thought I might be able to squeak around him; the line he took was slow at the beginning, but then his line and mine came together at the exit of the turn and we came together," said Villopoto. "I was just trying to get a wheel on him and I just couldn't do it and I went off the track." Stewart said, "After the tabletop, he was going super-far outside into that corner, and I couldn't let him go around me on the outside [laughs]. Our lines came together at the end of the corner and we ended up bumping and he went off, but he was right back there behind me after a few turns. It was just continued on next page

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