VOL. 51 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 28, 2014
Ryan Villopoto (1)
got off to a fast
start, rode to a
near wire-to-wire
win and is now the
new points leader.
RYAN VILLOPOTO BECOMES FIRST TWO-TIME
WINNER OF 2014 WITH OAKLAND ROMP.
ACK
After setting the fastest time
in qualifying, Villopoto took the
lead midway into the opening lap
of the main event and took command for the remaining 19 laps to
take the win some four-and-a-half
seconds ahead of a now healthy
James Stewart. It was a performance that set him apart from
the competition and certainly
designates him the man to beat
in 2014.
P63
Briefly...
RCH Racing Soaring Eagle Suzuki's
Josh Hill suffered a broken collarbone after hitting the ground hard in
the second 450 heat race when he
tried switching up his lanes at the last
second before the dual-lane portion
of the track. Hill sat stunned on the
track for a minute before getting up,
and at that point he realized he had
injured his shoulder. "I felt great all
day and had the speed I needed. I
just made a mistake in the heat coming through the pack," said Hill. "I'm
not in too much pain. More than anything, I'm just frustrated that it happened." There was no indication from
the team just how long Hill would be
out, but the assumption was that he
would miss at least a couple of races.
Chad Reed said after the race that
he is struggling a lot with the conditions of the tracks at these west
rounds. "The biggest thing I'm struggling with is I'm just not able to replicate the conditions we are getting
at the track at home on my practice
track," said Reed who calls Florida
home these days. "The things I'm
struggling with at the races, I work
on them at home, and we think we've
got it fixed and we get to the races
and it's really different. At this point
you just have to trust your years
and just get through this west coast
swing and then I think the tracks will
come to us."
RCH Soaring Eagle Suzuki's Broc
Tickle pulled out of the race after
his heat race, due to a jammed wrist
that was the result of an incident with
Justin Barcia. "I got off to a decent
start in my heat and felt the best I
have all night," said Tickle. "Barcia
knocked [Jake] Weimer down in
a berm in front of me and I got on
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