Cycle News

Cycle News 2014 Issue 09 March 4 2014

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES ROUND 9/MARCH 1, 2014 LUCAS OIL STADIUM/INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA P42 THE MAIN EVENT Mike Alessi got another one of those great starts he's known for and put his Smartop/Motocon- cepts Suzuki into the early lead. He got as far as 1.7 seconds out front on lap two. Alessi led for four laps before Dungey reeled him in. The two came over a wall jump side by side and Dungey had the inside position going through a sweeping left-hand turn and motored into the lead. Dungey was complimentary of Alessi's early run up front. "He actually goes pretty good those first three laps," Dungey said. "He did it at Atlanta too and he's a good starter. I felt like I got off the gate tremendously good and here comes Alessi around the outside." Alessi later fell, giving Eli Tomac second place. Once up front Dungey just pulled away from Tomac, open- ing a 10.8 second lead with two to go before backing it off in the final laps and winning by just un- der seven seconds. Tomac meanwhile experi- enced a breakthrough race. Largely struggling since coming back from an early-season injury he rode a solid race, running third and then inheriting second when Alessi crashed mid-way through the race. It marked his first 450 Supercross podium. His previous best was seventh in San Diego. Substitute factory Honda rider Seely recovered from a mediocre start and steadily worked his way up from seventh to third in the course of the final. This was his first 450 Supercross ride since 2012, and like Tomac, it marked his first podium in the premier class. VILLOPOTO'S SLUMP CONTINUES Other riders would love to be in this kind of slump, with two wins and leading the championship LEADERS TUMBLE Start incidents are not uncommon in Supercross, but to have the first- and second-place riders in the series go down together before they even make the first turn, that has to be classified as unusual. It appeared that, as the pack began to funnel down for the first turn, Justin Brayton squeezed in on James Stewart from one side, while Josh Hill moved over from the other. Stew- art was forced to check up and Villopoto had his front wheel clipped by Stewart's rear wheel, and Villopoto's bike came out from under him and he fell. Roczen was right behind Villopoto and got collected. A few yards later, Stewart crashed with Hill and Wilson. With three of the leading series contenders on the ground, the race suddenly had a completely different complexion. From Villopoto's point of view he felt someone came over on Roczen, causing the German rider to fall into him. "We all flinched a little bit on the start and then some- one cut over on Kenny and Kenny came into the side of me and drug me down," Villopoto said. "It was just a starting incident. We were both last and then I got back up and there was another little pileup just beyond the first turn, so it was carnage." While Villopoto said he never likes to see anyone crash, he did admit some relief when he looked up and saw that it was series rival Roczen who was the other fallen rider. "I looked over and thought, 'OK, we're both down, so it's a level playing field," Villopoto said. Roczen was walking a little gingerly after the race; ob- viously a bit beat up from a disastrous race that saw him drop from second to third in the standings and go from nine points to 26 points behind series leader Villopoto. "I crashed at the start and then crashed later on," a dejected Roczen explained. "I cased a jump and went over straight over the bar. My bar was so bent up and everything else, it just wouldn't have made sense to try to keep going." Roczen assessed the damage. "It's my upper back - I'm just really banged up. It will be fine for Daytona, I'm not worried."

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