The 2010 supercross season took its toll with a number of riders injured including Stewart, Reed and Villipoto. All three are back to full strength which makes for a very exciting opening round and if all stay healthy a nail biting finish at the final round in Las Vegas.

There are several riders who have the capability to win the 2011 supercross championship including defending champion Ryan Dungey, 2009 champion James Stewart, 2008 champion Chad Reed.

Kevin Windham is in strong form after a brief appearance in the Australian supercross series “Super X”. Blitzing the field and wowing the fans while Reed didn’t not show up to race.

racers

Ryan Villipoto moved up from the lites to the open class in 2010 and won 7 races in 2010 before being injured.

Trey Canard moving up from the lites after taking the 2010 motocross championship crown. Trey had strong rides in the open class when he rode for team Honda in the 2010 supercross series.

Other contenders include Micheal Byrne, Brett Metcalfe, Andrew Short, Josh Grant and Christophe Pourcel.

2011 Supercross 450 Factory Teams / Riders:

1. Rockstar/Makita Suzuki:? Ryan Dungey / Brett Metcalfe
2. Team Honda:? Trey Canard / Josh Grant
3. Monster Energy Kawasaki:? Ryan Villopoto / Jake Weimer (injured)
4. Moto Concepts Yamaha: ?Tommy Hahn / Kyle Chisholm
5. L&M Racing:? James Stewart / Kyle Regal
6. Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX: Davi Millsaps / Justin Brayton
7. Red Bull KTM: Andrew Short?
8. Star Yamaha: Ryan Sipes / Kyle Cunningham?
9. Valli Yamaha:? Ivan Tedesco / Austin Stroupe
10. BBMX Suzuki:? Jason Thomas / Michael Byrne
11. Two Two Motorsports (Honda): Chad Reed

“I set the fastest lap in Daytona, so I know I have the speed,” said Reed. “I’ve been riding as much as I can and trying to stay in shape for my return. This week should be a fun one for me.”

The win for Reed won’t come easy as the series points leaders Villipoto and Dungey will have something to prove. If Stewart turns up as well it will make for some very exciting racing.

“I’ve had a good couple of weeks of training,” said Villopoto. “I know it isn’t going to be easy to win the title, but I’m going to try and win out and hope things go my way.”

Dungey, a rookie in the premier AMA Supercross class, has four wins on the season and nine podium finishes. His consistency through the first 12 races has paid off.

James Stewart

James Stewart started riding a dirt bike at the age of 3 and entered his first race the following year at just 4 years old. Bubba has since won AMA Supercross, FIM World Supercross and AMA Motocross Championships, and also has the Motocross of Nations and US Open of Supercross titles in his list of achievements.

When James does return to Supercross he is sure to give the points leaders a run for their money.

Heat 1 saw Reed get a good start in 3rd place behind Sipes and Allessi after contact with Grant in turn 1. Mike Allessi lead for most of the race after a challenge from Reed was put on the back burner when he jumped wide on a triple on lap 3 and went off the side of the track to miss a tough block. Reed managed to recompose himself and pass Allessi with4 laps to go and went on to win the heat. Meanwhile Grant and Windham fought it out with some bar to bar action for 3rd place which would go to Josh Grant in the end with Mike Alessi finshing ahead of them in 2nd place.

Heat 2 saw Ivan Tedesco get the holeshot with claiming the lead by turn 2. Tedesco managed to stay with Stewart for the early stages of the race and apply some pressure but failed to regain the lead. Jason Lawrence challenged Tedesco for second and took the place from Tedesco. While this was going on Stewart had checked out once again but managed to lose the front end on a corner and took a soil sample once again. Stewart kept the bike running and managed to hold the lead to the finish.

In the main event the holeshot went to Alessi once again with Reed and Stewart hot on his heels. Reed had taken the lead by turn 2 but at that point James Stewart remained behind Alessi. Stewart followed Reed until 13 laps had been completed when he managed to get past Reed, but it wasn’t going to be easy this time for James as  Chad immediately fought back and retained the lead with some very intense racing. Reeds right fork guard somehow came lose in the thick of it and was dangling from his bike.

James Stewart reclaimed the lead soon after and pulled away from Reed when with 3 laps remaining Reed again jumped too wide on a triple and went of the track narrowly missing a tough block which cost him some time and Stewart went on to take the win.

AMA Supercross 2009 – Round 14

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium – Jacksonville, FL

Supercross

Reed took the lead from turn one in his heat to win comfortably whilst Stewart struggled after crashing twice in the second heat and just missed out on going to the LCQ by finishing in 9th position. Stewart had won every heat race he rode in this season until now.

The main event saw both Reed and Stewart placed mid pack at turn one but Reed quickly advanced into the top three before the end of lap 1. Stewart then proceeded to overtake Reed just before the finish line jump taking inside line at high speed and seemed in control once again.

However several laps into the race Stewart crashed again allowing Reed to slip past an reverse the lead Stewart had. Reed held on to win the main with Stewart finishing second.

In the lites the championship leader Christophe Pourcel is currently suffering from illness and didn’t show the dominance he has displayed in previous races, ending the night with a 5th place in the main.

AMA Supercross 2009 – Round 12

Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis, MO

Supercross

Supercross Lites – East Coast

Jason Lawrence placed 5th at Anaheim and crashed out of both his heat race and the LCQ at round 2 in Phoenix whilst his nemesis Ryan Dungy finished 3rd in round one after crashing out of his heat but winning the LCQ. Dan Reardon has shown some promising form but crashed in the final in round 1 and could only manage 10th at Chase Field. Jake Weimer looks strong after finishing first in round 1 but crashing in the final in round 2, giving up the leasd to Dungy and finishing in 4th place. Trey Canard had a nasty fall in the lites final after looking promising at the start of race.

In the supercross class, Ryan Villipoto has made it look easy winning a couple of heat races but doesn’t seem to have the same luck with the start in the main events. Ivan Tedesco also is returning to form after some strong riding within the top ten. Josh Grant is on top of the points table after winning round 1 and placing 3rd in round 2.

The intense rivalry between James Stuart and Chad Reed will give us some of the best action packed racing that has been seen for quite some time. The two champions are very close at the moment as came to light in round 1 when Stuart slowed before the entry to a whoops section and Reed clipped his back wheel which sent them both catapulting to the ground. Stuart hit his head hard and took a moment to regain his senses and started to push his bike off to the side of the track only to cut straight across Kevin Windhams path who was then knocked to the ground along with Stuart again in the collision. Meanwhile Reed started off again and continued to salvage 3rd place, whilst Stuart couldn’t get his Yamaha YZ450F started and withdrew from the race.

Round two in Phoenix saw the holeshot go to Josh Grant, out to prove his previous win was no fluke. Close behind him was James Stewart with Chad Reed in 5th place during the first lap. Soon after Reed had made his way into 3rd place but couldn’t get past Grant for several laps. Then the chase was on with Reed staying around 1 second behind Stuart for the majority of the race.

Both riders lapped the field to around 8th place, and after some close racing Reed finished right behind James Stewart. It really could have gone to either of the two, even though the lead didn’t change hands between them as it did in round 1.

As long as the majority of riders stay injury free we will be in for a great season packed with close racing and bar to bar action. Reed, Stewart, Villipoto, Grant and Tedesco all look good. It’s great to see Mike Allessi return to riding aggressively again after his bad crash last year in the outdoor season and suffering another bad injury while practicing in the off season after he recovered from the first incident.

Both riders will campaign 2009 YZ450Fs in next year’s AMA Supercross series as well as other events including the 2009 X-Games and the Rockstar Energy Drink U.S. Open. It hasn’t been officially announced yet whether or not the team will be campaigning the 2009 AMA Outdoor season.

“I’m really excited,” Stewart said. “It’s time for a change. When I got the opportunity to come on board with San Manual and Yamaha I had to take it. I know the bikes are really good and I’m excited to ride them on Saturday. We plan on doing the X-Games this year. We’re going to do some events in which we can build publicity. It’ll be fun, something different.”

“I rode it a bit this week,” said Chisholm. “I got a jump start on James and the bike is unreal. I’m a bit nervous switching up bikes. I’ve been with Kawasaki since I was like nine or ten. The bike is easy to ride so it’s going to be a good year.”

“Angel Stadium is a special place for me, it’s where I won my first supercross race, so I am really looking forward to this,” said Reed. “I have never been to a baseball game before. Baseball is not very popular in Australia, we play cricket. I’m hoping I can make the throw all of the way to the catcher without throwing out my shoulder!”

On the pressure of making the pitch to home plate, Reed said, “I am not even going to practice. I like the pressure.”

Reed, 26, of Tampa Fla., captured the second AMA Supercross class title of his career earlier this year at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium. En route to winning the championship, Reed captured nine wins and earned an additional four podium appearances. Reed became one of two riders to sweep all three race wins at Angel Stadium. A native of Australia, Reed came to the U.S. in 2002 and enjoyed success immediately winning the Eastern Regional AMA Supercross Lites championship. Reed is now third in the all-time AMA Supercross class win list with 35.

“I worked my butt of this year”. “I had a new bike this year, and that made my job a lot easier. It has been a great season for me this year. This is very special. It was unfortunate that James Stewart, the defending champion, got hurt, but this was a great year for us.” said Reed.

Reed’s mechanic, Oscar Wirdeman, was awarded a 2008 Toyota Tundra truck as the season’s top mechanic.

In the East/West Shootout, Dungey followed Progressive Holeshot Award winner Ryan Villopoto’s Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki. During the main, Villopoto and Dungey pulled away from the field. Villopoto led the first 14 laps while Dungey cloes on Villopoto’s lead. On the last lap, Dungey, who won last year’s shootout, passed Villopoto and rode to victory. Dungey was awarded a brand new 2008 Toyota Tundra truck for winning the shootout. Trey Canard finished third with Daniel Reardon, who qualified through the LCQ, finishing 4th.

“To win this race two years in a row is huge for me”, “It was a very special win for me because I came from behind and rode smart. I lost some time in the beginning of the race, and I was able to find my grove as the race progressed.” said Dungey.

“That was one of the fastest starts I have ever raced on at a supercross race,” said Villopoto. “The lappers played a big part in the race, but Ryan was riding great. I made some mistakes, and he capitalized on them.”

Paul Carpenter, won the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Pro Privateer Challenge (USSTC) and was awarded $25,000.