Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto returned to the top step of the podium Saturday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco with his first win of 2010. After dominating his heat race, Villopoto took every advantage at his disposal to earn his third career supercross win.
Villopoto had been looking for a breakout race and San Francisco showed the 21-year-old was ready to battle for the title. After moving into second, Villopoto started to cut the gap to first. When the leader went down, Villopoto was able to take control of the race.
Villopoto came into San Francisco looking to be more aggressive out on the track and the Washington native wasn’t afraid to battle for position. For two laps, Ryan Villopoto and Hill battled for second place with Villopoto finally making the move stick just before the finish line.
Ryan Villopoto Speaks…
“I went into the main with a good gate pick,” said Villopoto. “I didn’t get the start that I wanted, but I got up to third pretty quickly. Josh Hill and I went back and forth for a little bit. I was able to get around him and out of the corner of my eye I saw Dungey go down and I thought, ‘it is on now.’ I took the lead and I made up some points this weekend.”
“Hill and I battled back and forth,” said Villopoto. “He ran me high after the finish line and I got into the tuff blocks a little bit. It wasn’t too bad. It was all racing. I didn’t know if Dungey was going to be able to get back or not. I pushed to build a gap so I could get the win. The track was tough, and you had to be smooth and perfect. It was slippery and rutty.”
Villopoto looked like a local during practice at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Villopoto’s black and orange gear matched the home team’s color scheme and drew cheers from the fans.
The action packed 2010 season leaves no time to rest as Supercross now heads to round 5 in San Diego next Saturday. Check back here at Ultimate MotorCycling for latest race reports.
