2014 AMA Supercross – Toronto Results

James Stewart captured his series-leading fourth AMA Supercross 450 class win of the season, giving him sole possession of second place on the overall career wins list ahead of Ricky Carmichael and behind Jeremy McGrath. The win also helped Stewart gain some ground on points leader Ryan Villopoto who suffered from a bout of food poisoning.

Villopoto was examined at a Toronto hospital and released in time for the opening ceremonies. By entering the round in the top ten of the points race, Villopoto was allowed to enter the final heat race despite missing out on the qualifying sessions. The Kawasaki rider was able to advance through the heat and semis, learning the track in the process. In the main event, Villopoto rode conservatively, finishing a credible sixth to salvage 15 points.

Still, Villopoto managed to be second through the first corner behind Red Bull KTM rookie Ken Roczen who nabbed the holeshot. Villopoto soon gave way to Team Muscle Milk Honda‘s Justin Barcia who began to challenge Roczen for the lead. Barcia stalked Roczen for the first three laps before Barcia made a pass that stuck.

Barcia would lead the next 11 laps before being passed by Stewart. The Yoshimura Suzuki rider had a slow start, finishing the first lap in 11th place. He quickly started making up ground however, moving up to fifth place by Lap Six. Stewart passed KTM’s Ryan Dungey to take over third place on Lap 12 and moved past Roczen a lap later to take second.

Stewart then set his sights on Barcia, gaining nearly a second on him on Lap 14 before passing him the next lap to take the lead for good. Barcia held on to finish second while Dungey completed the podium in third.

“That was probably one of my best races ever, I’m speechless,” says Stewart. “To pass [Ricky] Carmichael and move into second on the all-time wins list is special. This hasn’t even set in yet. The fans kept me motivated tonight. I heard them through every pass, it was great.”

Geico Honda‘s Justin Bogle won the 250 race, snapping Kawasaki’s five-race Eastern Regional winning streak. Bogle took the holeshot ahead of Adam Cianciarulo. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider had dislocated his shoulder earlier in the afternoon and did it again going through the whoops on Lap 3. Cianciarulo attempted to continue racing but eventually decided the better of it.

That left Bogle alone in front, a lead he would stretch at one point to more than 10 seconds before crossing the finish line ahead of a hard charging Martin Davalos. Matthew Lemoine finished third after fending off a challenge from Davalos’ Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Blake Baggett. Baggett rode a hard race, damaging his throttle early on but crashed trying to pass Lemoine, completely ruining the throttle ending his race.

By salvaging 15 points despite a bad bout of food poisoning, Villopoto gave up on five points to Dungey in the championship chase. Villopoto now leads Dungey by 25 points and holds the tie-breaker with more wins so far this season. Stewart trails Dungey by 39 points and still remains just on the outside of the title picture. He’s been heating up of late, but he still has plenty of ground to make on Villopoto and Dungey.

[Source: AMA Supercross]

By Dennis Chung