by Charles Owens on 04/22/2013
The western side of the United States has been good to Justin Barcia.
On Saturday night he won the Main Event in Seattle, beating Ryan Villopoto (2nd, Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Davi Millsaps (3rd, Rock Star Energy Racing Suzuki).
Supercross fans might recall that same podium standing – it was identical to Barcia’s January win in Arizona, which was his last Main Event victory.
Last week’s winner Ryan Dungey posted a quick 53 second lap in qualifying, however in Heat 1 David Millsaps showed who was boss. He, like Barcia, is another competitor who’s done very well on the West Coast.
Barcia grabbed first place out the gate in front of Mike Alessi while riders on the inside left of the first bend got themselves into a bit of a pickle.
Following the carnage at the start, Villopoto blasted ahead to catch Alessi.
The ruts grew deeper by the minute, the dirt kept flying and the rain still fell – this didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd who roared in support of the Seattle-born Villopoto.
Trey Canard and Mike Alessi mixed it with the top few while Barcia, Millsaps and Villopoto held their ground and shot around the ripped-up course.
It wasn’t enough to knock the big three off their perch as Barcia kept Villopoto at bay by approximately two seconds.
Eli Tomac blasted through the holeshot to head off first in the 250 Main Event on his Honda with Christian Craig and Ken Roczen right on his tail.
After a whole lot of jostling and jiving on the dirty surface, Ken Roczen (Red Bull KTM) made it through in the end and finished first ahead of Eli Tomac (2nd, Honda) and Zach Osborne (3rd, Honda).
Yoshimura Suzuki’s star rider James Stewart annouced he’ll be sidelined for the remainder of the 2013 Supercross season.
The three-time AMA champion has been battling a troubled knee and a tweaked wrist; he hopes he’ll be back on deck and properly rehabilitated in time for the outdoor motocross season.
“The decision to sit out the last few races is a tough one for all of us,” he said.
“I’m psyched to be on the gate for Hangtown and and now I just want to get the AMA Pro MX Championship.”
On the points front, two-time consecutive champ Ryan Villopoto has a towering lead with 321. Davi Millsaps is sitting in second with 296 and Ryan Dungey is coming third, just one behind, on 295.
Ken Roczen’s ruling the 250 class on 163 on top of Eli Tomac (2nd, 143) and Cole Seely (3rd, 113).
Hold on to your seat – the series heads south to Salt Lake City in Utah next week.
Story By TSM Editor Paul Savage @PaulSavageNZ