Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1545838
A dd Unadilla to the list for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto, who now has four wins in si x r o u n d s o f A M A / Toyota Motocross Lites racing. And now for the first time in his career, the 17-year-old has the series' points lead. "It feels good," Villopoto said. "I've been trailing Mike [Alessi] for these last six races, and now I'm out front. It kind of feels like my race to lose right now. We need to stay consistent. Me and my parents and my trainer, Randy Lawrence, we work every day of the week to keep getting better." And Villopoto had to work hard at Unadilla, too, because he didn't get great starts in either moto, but he was able to battle his way to the front both times - a fact that probably only frustrates the competition more. Second and third overall went to Team Honda's Andrew Short and Red Bull KTM's Mike Alessi, respectively, and both riders had shots at the overall. Alessi held off a charging Villopoto to win moto one but rode off the pace in the second set to finish seventh. Short finished third in moto one, but he led moto two for several laps; that put him in position to take his second win of the season - but again Villopoto was able to reel him in. "It was a lot of fun," Short said. "I had a horrible start and I sprinted early in the moto trying to get up there with those guys. I ended up getting up there. I sprinted as hard as I could to beat Ryan; he's a great racer, though." Alessi's first-moto win was a wire-to-wire affair, as he held on to win, while Villopoto worked his way up. "I didn't want to get hit by any rocks," Alessi said. "I tried to ride my own race and focus ahead. Ryan was rid- ing really fast, and he was right there." Villopoto worked his way past Short and SoBe/Samsung Honda's Josh Grant to get into second, and then he went after Alessi in the later stages of the race. The two old rivals battled again, but Villopoto was not able to get around. "The track is kind of one-lined, and it makes it hard to pass," Villopoto said. "You kind of have to wait and work and hope for some mistakes. That didn't happen, so I just tried to work on them, and it didn't work out." "I think Josh got a little tired and he went back," Alessi said. "Then I saw Andrew right there, and then I saw Ryan go right around him. Then Ryan was right there, and I knew it was going to be a dogfight to the end. It seems like whenever I get a good start and we go one on one, we have a great race and I usually win. But when he does- n't get a good start, he comes up and passes me, while I don't ride good." And this was true in the second moto, in which Alessi gated poorly and didn't ride nearly as well as he did the first time. "In the second moto, I couldn't even see the leaders, Unadilla Valley Sports Center New Berlin, NY Round 6 July 16, 2006 JULY 26, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 28 2006 Toyota AMA Motocross Championship Presented by FMF Ryan Villopoto takes over points lead with Unadilla victory BY JASON WEIGANDT PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN, KARL OCKERT AND SHAN MOORE Ryan Villopoto (51) and Andrew Short (29) went one-two in the Lites class. With the win, Villopoto took the points lead away from Mike Alessi.