Round 2 of the 2013 Monster Energy
Supercross Championship from Phoenix, AZ will air LIVE on SPEED on
Saturday, January 12th at 9:30 ET.
Millsaps flew under the radar entering Anaheim, as he's done for so most
of his career. He switched from the Joe Gibbs Racing team to the new
450SX effort at Rockstar Energy Suzuki. And with so much uncertainty
surrounding this new relationship, despite his runner-up ranking in
2012, it was with little surprise that his name was rarely mentioned in
the conversations that typically included Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey,
Chad Reed, James Stewart, Justin Barcia and Trey Canard.
TV Schedule :
Event: Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Date: January 12, 2013
Time: Main Event - 7:00PM
Doors Open/Practice & Qualifying - 12:30PM
Vanue: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
However, Millsaps did what any rider in his position would. He was
motivated, he was excited about his new team, and he rode like a man out
to make a statement. From his heat race to the main event, it was a
collectively impressive effort. And while his win was regarded as an
upset, when you look at the course of the evening it’s not all
surprising that Millsaps was at the front of the field.
What was surprising was that none of the five riders who were most
frequently touted as the season's title contenders were even a factor in
the battle for the win.
Millsaps’ underdog victory sent shockwaves throughout the paddock,
leaving many wondering if the Suzuki rider is an overlooked contender
this season and what exactly happened to the 'Big Five' in Anaheim.
Reigning champ Villopoto looked poised to make a run at another Anaheim
victory after a very impressive climb through the field in his heat race
to almost steal the win. However, after being caught sleeping on the
gate in the main event, Villopoto found himself buried in 15th place off
the start and needing the work his way through the most decorated field
of riders in history.
Perhaps Villopoto was trying to rush his way forward a bit too
impatiently, understanding that the longer he waits the further the
front pack pulls away. However, in that attempt, he experienced what has
to be one of the worst nights of his racing career in arguably the
highest-profile race of the season. Three separate incidents, including a
scary crash after landing on a tuff block, relegated the back-to-back
champ to a 16th-place finish. He will now have his work cut out for him
to get back to the top of the standings.
If there was ever a moment to serve as a blow to Villopoto’s mental
psyche, Saturday night would have been in it. However, as mentioned in
the preseason Top 5 Countdown here at SPEED.com, Villopoto does not seem
to let anything phase him, and following the event, he had a smile on
his face joking with his team, simply chalking A1 up to a bad night,
something that happens to the best of them.
In this week’s race recap, we let a few riders do the recap for us –
winner Davi Millsaps, Trey Canard, two-time SX Champ Chad Reed, another
two-time SX Champion James Stewart, two-time & defending Supercross
Champion Ryan Villopoto, … and former champion Rick Johnson gives his
opinions as well.
Davi Millsaps: It was a great night for me. This is my first win since
2010, and I was just trying to keep calm out there. It has been a long
time since I have led a race, so it was hard to calm my nerves. When
Trey passed me I was like ‘Ahhh Man,’ this is like Salt Lake City all
over again. I knew I had a good line though and I just pinned it in the
whoops and I got back by him. I don’t think anyone really expected this.
It was a new program, bike and team for me. We’ve all been working
really hard during the off-season to come out and do the best we can. To
see where we are and where we need to be. Even though we won, it’s all
building blocks from here. We’ll go back and see how we can make it even
better. It’s been like that the whole time. It’s really cool that
Rockstar Energy Racing, Bobby Hewitt and Dave Gowland have given me the
opportunity and stood behind me. It’s like a family.
Trey Canard: Tonight went better then I could have ever dreamed. I
really had no set number or expectations coming into this race except to
give it 100 percent effort and I am beyond grateful to even be lining
up on the gate. I hope to be able to continue this throughout the year
and hopefully get a win but mostly I just want to be there every
weekend.
Chad Reed: There are 16 races ahead and Saturday was about seeing where
we all stacked up. I wanted to come away with some good points and we
achieved that. It is great to have the first race in the can, we now
know what work we have to do ahead of Phoenix.
James Stewart: Things started out pretty good. We were fastest in
practice and top qualifier. We had some really good speed and the
Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 was working great all day. Then I had a little
mishap in practice; I didn’t fall over, I just caught my knee wrong.
That turned my night around right there, because up until then I felt
like we had a win in us. We finished eighth, but to be honest, I feel
like I won the race. Now, I’ll go and get it checked out and if
everything is good with the knee, we’ll continue on to Phoenix next week
and hopefully get on a roll. My main competition finished eight spots
behind me so we’re right there in points. Now we just need to go back
and figure it out for next week.
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