After a decade of racing dominated by Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart and Chad Reed, 2010 will see a new supercross champion crowned. Carmichael is retired, while both Reed and Stewart are injured. Even if they come back this year, both Reed and Stewart will be too far behind in points to be a factor in the championship.
While Reed (27) and Stewart (24) are still in their prime, the three guys left who have a shot at this year’s title are much younger. Tied with 123 points each after 6 races are two twenty-year-olds, Ryan Dungey and Josh Hill. Just three points behind these two is Ryan Villopoto, age 21. Lurking in fourth place, but quite a few points behind, is David Millsaps, age 22. Dungey, Villopoto and Millsaps each have wins this year, so far. Hill has been second in four races.
Predicting a championship winner among Dungey, Villopoto and Hill is tough. As you might expect with riders so young, each of them seems to get faster each week. If we had to make a prediction, however, it would be Villopoto. Coming off an injury last year, he has really started to pick up the pace… winning two of the last three races. He also has a bit more experience on a 450 than Dungey and Hill. Millsaps is more than 20 points behind each of the other riders, and we don’t think he has the consistency to close the points gap and be a championship threat.
The bottom line is this. If you think 2010 will be a boring series with Reed and Stewart on the sidelines, you are wrong. An exciting rivalry has already developed among the youngest riders on the track for this year’s title.
