Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki) was crowned the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross champion Saturday night in Houston after taking his eighth win of the year. Due to a combination of great riding and injuries to his closest competitors, Villopoto clinches the crown early . . . with four races still remaining. Davi Millsaps (Yamaha) and Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) filled out the podium behind Villopoto. Millsaps teammate James Stewart crashed out of the main event, apparently without any new injuries.
For additional details, results and points, visit the official Monster Energy site here.
Windham sure looked good before he crashed. Here’s hoping he recovers quickly. Too bad the series turned into such a snoozer. RV has zero competition. Wake me up when it’s over.
Once again Stewart proves he cannot ride a full race. How many crashes does that make for him this year alone? He better hurry up and get to NASCAR before he kills himself to death!
You do realize that everyone else who had any kind of a chance of beating Villopoto has crashed out for the duration of the season.
Yeah, it has occurred to me that the last few years post-RC, every year, it’s a war of attrition and the top riders are forced to ride so fast in order to win that they only have about a 25% chance of completing an entire season without serious injury. It does lessen interest for me when injury plays such a major role in deciding the victor. I can’t think of any solution, though, as better technology just seems to make them ride faster, and I wouldn’t want any kind of absolute power limitations. I don’t think you’d want to limit performance by limiting fuel capacity, like they do in MotoGP and WSB. Makes for poor spectating when someone runs out of gas.
You nailed it. Injuries are not new to the game, but I think RC ran so close to 100% he upped the game. McGrath used to run hard for 5 laps then maintain a nice cushion. RC would just keep running near the edge, others had no choice but to do the same if they wanted a chance. While I didn’t really root for RC, I always accepted his GOAT status for being as intense as he was. (He struggles in NASCAR because they won’t let him practice the way he did on the bike.)