2013 AMA Supercross Daytona Race Report

Ryan Villopoto won his fifth main event race of the year at Daytona to take over the lead in the 2013 AMA Supercross championship standings.

The win is the third at Daytona in the Monster Energy Kawasaki racer’s career, matching the totals set by Bob Hannah, Mike Kiedrowski, Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed. Only Ricky Carmichael, who designed the sand-based Daytona track, holds more Supercross wins at Daytona with five victories.

Villopoto took the holeshot in the main event, trailed by Red Bull KTM‘s Ken Roczen, the current 250 West points leader making a rare start in the 450 class. Not far behind Roczen were Team Honda Muscle Milk‘s Justin Barcia and Roczen’s teammate Ryan Dungey. Villopoto looked to expand his early lead but made a mistake rounding one of the track’s many hairpin turns, dropping him down to third.

That handed the lead to Roczen while Villopoto continued to struggle around some of those 180-degree hairpin turns. The reigning champion soon got a handle on them however and passed Roczen for the lead on Lap 4.

Meanwhile, the incoming series points leader Davi Millsaps struggled, sitting in 12th position for much of the first half of the race. The Rockstar Suzuki rider regained a couple of spots and spent the second half of the race in tenth place.

With Millsaps well behind, Villopoto pressed his advantage to win by 5.287 seconds. Dungey finished second followed by Barcia to complete the podium.

After 10 rounds, Villopoto now leads the championship with 202 points, just ahead of Millsaps’ 200 points. Dungey is still in the mix but sits at 188 points.

The 2013 AMA Supercross Championship continues March 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

[Source: AMA Supercross; Photos by FIM, Cudby S]

By Dennis Chung