Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto (Photo: Steve Cox) » More Photos

Villopoto had a similar day in the Lites class, although he didn’t manage to grab either holeshot outright. Geico Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard and Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey fought over the holeshot in moto one, with Dungey getting the nod, only for Canard to take the early lead. Dungey lost three spots on the first lap and rounded lap 1 in fourth as teammate Nico Izzi fought it out with Canard for the lead, and Villopoto grabbed third from Dungey right off the bat.

Villopoto worked his way past Canard for second on lap 2, then by Izzi for the lead on lap 4, and from there on out, he pulled out a huge lead while Izzi put on a fast fade backward through the pack and Dungey chased Canard without success for the remainder of the moto. Villopoto took the win, followed by Canard (for the third moto in a row), Dungey, Canard’s teammate Jake Weimer and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe.

Moto two saw Canard grab the holeshot followed by his teammate, Josh Grant, Dungey, Villopoto, and MDK KTM’s Martin Davalos. Canard led the first two laps before Villopoto found his way by, after passing Dungey and Grant.

Canard put on a chase of Villopoto, but he couldn’t stay very close for long, and soon he fell into the clutches of Dungey, who was pressuring him from behind for most of the race. That is until the 11th of 18 laps, when Canard swapped and collected a lapper, crashing hard and bending his shift lever, which prevented him from being able to put his bike into neutral and restart it.

With Canard out, Villopoto went on to win the moto (his 13th in a row) over Dungey, Davalos, Metcalfe, and Kyle Cunningham. Villopoto took the overall win over Dungey and Metcalfe, and Villopoto now leads the championship by 103 points (341-238) over Dungey with five rounds left to run.