Since his move to the supercross class, Tickle has been working hard to get comfortable on the bigger bike. In the heat race, Tickle got a good start and pieced together a solid race to finish sixth. When the gate dropped for the main, Tickle got pinched off around the first turn and found himself near the back of the pack, but worked through the field to finish 13th.
"I really felt like I was struggling all day," said Tickle. "I crashed earlier in practice and just couldn't get comfortable on the track. The heat race went good and I felt good about the start. But in the main I got a bad start and just had a tough time. It's hard to explain, but at the test tracks I feel like I can push it on my KX450F, but when I get to the races I don't have the same confidence. Moving forward I just have to keep working hard and keep trying to get closer to where I want to be, which is top-five. I'm going to work hard this week and hopefully I can come back next week and prove myself at Anaheim 2."
Tyla Rattray came into the weekend sitting third in the points, only three points behind the leader. He knew to reclaim the red plate he was going to have to push it on the difficult track. Rattray attempted to dial in the track during practice, but couldn't get into a rhythm and qualified in 10th position. In the heat race, he crashed while trying to come through the pack and was injured, knocking him out of the competition for the night.
After timed qualifying wrapped up and the overall results were calculated, Villopoto had secured the fastest lap time at the event. His impressive 54.17 second lap time was almost a half-second faster than everyone else in his class. Although the outstanding lap time seemed difficult to best, during the heat race Villopoto's adrenaline-fueled charge aboard his 2012 Kawasaki KX450F resulted in an amazing 52.7 second lap time, besting every racer at the event.
Next weekend, the series heads back to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., for Round 5 of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series.
Main Photo: Ryan Villopoto
