Daytona SX Results
In the 2011 AMA Supercross main event, Ryan Villopoto on his Kawasaki KX450F took advantage of a James Stewart miscue on his Yamaha YZ450F and captured his second straight Daytona Supercross By Honda on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
Stewart (JS7) led the first three laps but took a spill on his Yamaha on Lap 4 of the 20-lap SX event. Villopoto (RV2) inherited the lead and led the remaining 17 laps for a 6.506 second victory.
Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki KX 450 F) says: "I got a good start right behind James and just followed him," exclaims the current Supercross points leader.
"He was on it those first couple of laps. I was just riding my pace, my race. I figured I was either going to stay where I was and he was just going to do what he was going to do or he was going to go down."
After taking the Supercross lead in the main, the SX rider of the No. 2 Kawasaki put his head down and maintained a solid pace.
"Once I got in the lead, I kept putting in some hard laps," continues Villopoto. "With the track being as long as it was … it was a pretty brutal track and it wasn’t that easy. I was just trying to be smooth and keep an eye on where second and third was."
Three-time Daytona Supercross By Honda champion Chad Reed finished second on his very own Honda CFF450R and defending AMA Supercross champion Ryan Dungey (Suzuki RM-Z 450) rounded out the podium. Stewart rallied from the spill to finish ninth.
Villopoto’s win was the first time a rider has repeated as a Daytona Supercross champion since Ricky Carmichael in 2003.
It was the fourth AMA Supercross win of the year for Villopoto and the Seattle, Wash., native expanded his championship lead to 23 points over Stewart and 24 points over Reed.
For the fourth straight year, the Daytona Supercross By Honda course was designed by five-time Daytona Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael and built by three-time National Champion Mark Barnett.
New to the course this year was the placement of the starting gate, which was located on pit road and provided fans with a great view of the first turn.
Next up at Daytona will be the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross Championship on Sunday and the Ricky Carmichael University on Monday.
