Combining the heat and the
relentless nature of the jumps
and obstacles around the flat
Nakhonchaisri site, it was a
welcoming stage for the cut-
ting abilities of the reigning AMA
Supercross Champion. Villopoto
diced the qualification heat at
a canter on Saturday and there
were fears that a new unbeat-
able wave had entered MXGP
when he was equally as precise
in the first moto on Sunday.
Rockstar Suzuki's Clement De-
salle has been "next best" in all
four motos so far in 2015 and he
had little for the American. The
26-year-old "rookie" in Grand
Prix had the joy of his overall
victory tempered slightly in the
second moto when defending
number-one (six times in a row)
Red Bull KTM's Tony Cairoli
showed some of his claws on
the 350SX-F, and with a superior
start was just as resilient. Villo-
poto credited the Sicilian and the
Belgian's speed ahead of him
and also remarked that the sus-
pension set-up he had refined
in Europe through a whistle-stop
test with the Kawasaki Racing
Team (KRT) in the wake of Qatar
worked slightly better when the
track was softer in the first race.
A 1-3 tally was clearly better than
the seventh overall in Losail the
Saturday before, but Villopoto is
still a case of work-in-progress
in his new racing venture and
bid to become the first American
World Champion in more than
twenty years.
Good news for the U.S. in
MX2 arrived with Monster En-
ergy CLS Kawasaki's Thomas
Covington classifying fifth overall
for a personal best in what is his
second season in Grand Prix.
The eighteen year old was also
disbelieving of the conditions
that saw the start gate reduced
by at least five riders for the sec-
ond moto. "This is another level
I think," he said. "In California it
is hot but it is dry heat. This re-
minds me of amateur days back
at Lorettas and it is definitely hot-
ter than that. I will just stick to my
program and keep doing what I
am doing. When I am able to run
up in the top five then I can learn
a lot."
Adam Wheeler
VOL. 52 ISSUE 10 MARCH 10, 2015 P25
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
RAY
ARCHER
(Left) Ryan Villopoto says he still
has a lot to learn on the GPMX
circuit. (Above) American Thomas
Covington had a strong outing in
MX2, finishing fourth overall and
moving up in the standings.
