2014 AMA Supercross – Indianapolis Results

Ryan Dungey captured his first win of the 2014 AMA Supercross season in a wild main event that saw two of the top title contenders crashing on the starting straight at Indianapolis‘ Lucas Oil Stadium.

Smartop MotoConcepts Suzuki rider Mike Alessi took the holeshot for the second race in a row, but the big news was incoming points leader Ryan Villopoto and Ken Roczen going down before the first turn. Roczen trailed Villopoto by nine points going into the Indianapolis round, but the KTM rookie’s hopes of overtaking the reigning champion took a blow when he went down on the straight, knocking Villopoto off in the process.

They weren’t the only ones to go down at the start though, as Yoshimura Suzuki‘s James Stewart, third overall entering Indy, was caught in another pile-up just around the first turn.

With the top three riders in the championship race falling early, Dungey was handed a golden opportunity to gain ground. The Red Bull KTM rider trailed Alessi for the first few laps before passing him on Lap 5. Alessi fought to hold on to second place with Geico Honda‘s Eli Tomac while Dungey extended his lead.

Meanwhile, Villopoto pushed his Kawasaki back up through the ranks. After finishing the first lap in 17th place, Villopoto started gaining ground, moving into the top ten on Lap 5.

Things shifted again on Lap 13 with Alessi crashing and dropping several positions. Moments later Roczen went down for the second time, rolling over the handlebars soon after moving into eighth place. Roczen got up gingerly and withdrew from the race with a sore back.

Dungey would cross the finish with a comfortable lead over Tomac while Team Honda Muscle Milk‘s Cole Seely, subbing in for the injured Justin Barcia, finished third for his first 450-class podium.

Honda rider Vince Friese took the holeshot in the 250 Eastern Regional race, chased by Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates Martin Davalos and Adam Cianciarulo. Friese couldn’t hold on to the lead for long, getting passed by the two Kawasakis.

Davalos led for the first six laps before crashing, losing the lead to his teammate. Davalos was able to remount, but dropped to third behind Geico Honda’s Matt Bisceglia. Cianciarulo pulled away with a big lead, holding on for the win despite a brief spill on Lap 7. Davalos finished five seconds back in second ahead of Geico Honda’s Justin Bogle.

After a wild Indianapolis round, Villopoto actually strengthened his hold on the championship lead, now holding a 23-point lead over Dungey. Roczen salvaged a single point with his 21st-place result and fell to third while Stewart recovered from his early fall to finish seventh and score 14 points to stay in the mix.

With his second win in three rounds, Cianciarulo leads Davalos by five points in the 250 Eastern Regional class. Blake Baggett, the third Monster Energy Kawasaki rider is fourth, behind Bogle who will find it difficult to gain ground with Team Green all around him. But as we saw from the 450 class race, things can change very quickly.

[Source: AMA Supercross]

By Dennis Chung