Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 14, 2014 Briefly... DÉJÀ VU History repeated itself for the two front-runners of the Western Regional Supercross Series, Jason Anderson and Cole Seely. For them, the Phoenix race was almost a mirror image of their main event race a week ago at Anaheim 1, one that Seely didn't want to repeat. In both instances, Seely put his Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/Honda into the lead only to lose it on the final lap when Anderson pushed his way into the lead on his Rockstar Racing KTM – just like he did last week. But unlike last week, he didn't need any help from lappers. It was a doubly frustrating ending for Seely, who led 14 of the 15. "It's disappointing," said Seely. "I made a really stupid mistake on the last lap and almost got tangled with a Tuff Block, and I just let another win go. I just have to learn from it and go back and work harder." "All week I've been battling stomach pain, so I have a virus or something," he added. "I haven't been eating right. All day today I've only had a bowl of oatmeal and some water. I was trying to keep my stomach comfortable but about halfway through the race I could feel it tightening up. I just maintained my pace and tried to put a gap on Jason, but I wasn't able to do that, although we gapped the rest of the field pretty good." On the opening lap, Seely made an impressive pass on both Anderson and early leader Cooper Webb, which seemed to indicate that the race would ultimately go P49 Wilson's teammate, Justin Hill, has been impressive so far this season, but a crash hurt his result in Phoenix. He was fifth in the 250 main and closing in on fourth when he fell. "I'm pretty bummed about crashing," Hill said. "I felt really good tonight and a top-five finish was all mine. I had knocked a Tuff Block over a lap before and when I came around the next lap, it was sticking out into my line and it put me on the ground." He ended up eighth. his way. "Cooper made bobble through that rhythm section and I knew if I jumped inside I would have the inside line at least on Cooper, and it worked out that Jason was still too high to cut underneath, and I ended up getting them both and came across the first lap with the lead," said Seely. "I thought I was going to pull away and establish a little gap but I wasn't able to do that." Anderson took his time reeling Seely back in, then he bided his time until it was time to pounce. "I was looking for my spots and I found my spot and I was close, and I knew I had to make a move," Anderson said. "I jumped to the inside and it was a done deal. "It was a good race and I just waited until the end to pass. I didn't really plan it out that way, but I'm stoked. I got a good start and I just hung in there, which is what I have been doing." PHOENIX SUPERCROSS NOTES: Ryan Villopoto's win was the 35th of his career and his first in Phoenix – he has won at every venue on the 2014 schedule except Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, which hasn't hosted a SX round in many years… Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey won his heat race but couldn't make the pass on Justin Brayton for second in the main, saying, "I felt great all day…[but] I just couldn't make the pass when I needed to tonight; I kept making mistakes and couldn't get through the whoops"… Toyota/ Yamaha/N-Fab/JGRMX Team's Josh Grant injured his shoulder during practice and did not suit up for the evening program, though he participated in opening ceremonies… Crowd attendance at Chase Field was 49,834… Yoshimura Suzuki-backed Jake Moss and MyPlash/Metal Mulisha/Rockstar Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha's Cooper Webb grabbed the evening's Nuclear Cowboyz Holeshot Awards… Ryan Villopoto is the new 450-class points leader (by one over Ryan Dungey) and will wear the red plate next weekend at Anaheim 2.

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