Ryan Villopoto made the opening round of the 2012 Supercross season look pretty easy. The defending champ cruised to victory more than 10 seconds ahead of his competitors. Ryan Dungey, Chad Reed, and James Stewart will have to pick up the pace this weekend to show Villopoto that winning a consecutive championship won't be a walk in the park.
After claiming the opening round win, Villopoto said:
"We will keep pushing and moving forward to Phoenix this weekend" said Villopoto. "There are a lot of races left so we just need to keep on with our program and try to be consistent."
Chad Reed, who claimed his 115 podium last weekend in Anaheim, was happy with how the first round ended up, but he'll be looking for the top spot this weekend.
"I'm excited how the Anaheim opener turned out," said Reed. "The goal was to be on the podium and to have a shot at a win, and we achieved both. I was a little off the pace of Ryan (Villopoto) but, I feel we can make up that gap in the coming weeks."
Dungey will also be looking for his first victory of the season. Dungey gave KTM its first Supercross podium last weekend and now the team has its eyes set on a race win.
"Finishing on the podium at the Anaheim opener was definitely a great way to start the 2012 supercross season," said Dungey. "It was an honor to deliver KTM their first-ever US podium in the Supercross Class last weekend and hopefully it's the start of many more to come. Working with an all-new race bike usually takes a team quite a lot of time testing and developing before you start to see podium level results. However, right off the bat we have had no problems dialing in the new KTM 450 and after just a few short months of seat time on the new bike, we are already showing very positive results against a field of very experienced competitors. It's definitely a testament to KTMs determination to produce a championship-contending bike and the team's commitment to ongoing development that positioned us amongst the top finishers at Anaheim. I'm really motivated to get on the podium again this weekend in Phoenix."
Justin Brayton and Jake Weimer had great showings in Anaheim with fourth and fifth place finishes respectively, could compete for race wins this season. James Stewart, who raced his first race in 8-months last weekend, took 6th place.
"We learned a lot last weekend in Anaheim," said Stewart. "First race with the new team, their first race with a new rider, first time I'd been racing since last year's supercross season. I mean that was our first real competition together, and in end, it wasn't all the bad. We found some things with the bike and those will help. But, we got a taste of what the competition is going to be like this year, and I think we're ready for more."
The second round of the 2012 Supercross season kicks off in Phoenix this weekend. Will Villopoto be able to win two in a row?
