The grandstands full of people at the Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of Las Vegas were constantly reminded that the very first Monster Energy Cup was ‘one heck of a show’. The main display of class at this one race special was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villipoto who completed a fantastic 2011 season by winning all three ten lap heats to pick up the richest prize in the history of supercross/motocross.
Among the fireworks, lightshow and talent on the track the AMA Supercross and Motocross champion shone the brightest with two holeshots from three and was the master of a long, fast, narrow and challenging track that ran outside the stadium and up into the stands.
After the first Main Event Villopoto was the only one in the running for ‘Monster Million’ while the crowd were distracted by a close duel between Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Ben Townley, enjoying a one-off outing on Pro Circuit Kawasaki machinery. Townley beat the 2010 champion after the slenderest of margins.
The second and third Main Events were all about Villopoto as Dungey had to face Mike Alessi to make sure of second place overall (35,000 dollars) and Brett Metcalfe. The Australian earned 24,000 dollars for his evening’s work.
“I am so happy we were able to pull it off,” said Villopoto who hinted that he was obliged to compete at Las Vegas (even postponing his honeymoon to do so) but now much surely be happy with his financial haul in just two hours of intense work. “This is unreal. It is a pretty cool race. This wasn’t a usual supercross with one twenty lap main event. We had to have three chances to go at it. For me to get almost three holeshots is unreal. Thanks to everyone with a green shirt.”
It was a good evening for Dungey who entered the event at the last minute and after only six days riding the KTM 450SX-F. He missed a little ‘punch’ from the start gate and conceded valuable time in the opening laps to his Motocross of Nations winning team-mate but it still showed a lot of potential on the orange machine as his team chase the factory’s first success in the high-profile indoor arenas come January 7th at Anaheim in Los Angeles.
“It was a fun time and we got to debut the bike and work in some ways. We had a lot of fun testing in last couple of weeks and we’re looking forward to the future. We’re very fortunate to be in this position to go for a million dollars which is a lot of money…but it is very cool.”
“It is always nice to be part of the first one and it was a good night racing. The track really churned up,” said Metcalfe. I’ll be back next year because it was a lot of fun.”
With a few high profile AMA riders missing, a lack of faces from Europe also the weight of the 250,000 dollar prize fund and the ‘Monster Million’, it could be easy to think the Monster Energy Cup is not something that will run for the long-term. However there were already posters with the date for 2012, October 20th, shown around the paddock here. This means almost guaranteed presence from the likes of both Kawasaki teams and a strong chance of Grand Prix riders from Yamaha and Kawasaki here in twelve months.
Monster Energy Cup Class Results
1.Ryan Villopoto, Poulsbo, Wash., Kawasaki (1,1,1)
2.Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (3,2,2)
3.Brett Metcalfe, Lake Elsinore, Calif., Suzuki (4,3,3)
4.Martin Davalos, Cairo, Ga., Suzuki (7,7,5)
5.Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (5,4,10)
6.Kyle Chisholm, Valrico, Fla., Yamaha (9,9,7)
7.Nick Wey, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki (14,11,4)
8.Jimmy Albertson, Ozark, Mo., Yamaha (11,10,8)
9.Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki (12,6,11)
Mike Alessi, Victorville, Calif., Suzuki (6,21,6)
