Millville: Series Saturday practice notes

Points Leaders Stewart and Villopoto Lead the Way in Saturday Practice at Honda Spring Creek Pro National from Millville

MILLVILLE, Minn. (August 16, 2008) -- As they seek to clinch their respective class championships this weekend, series points leaders James Stewart, of Monster Energy Kawasaki, and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Ryan Villopoto set the pace on Saturday for practice and qualifying at the Honda Spring Creek Pro National Presented by Scott USA.

Stewart easily paced both of the day's practice sessions, ultimately establishing a three second advantage over second place and serving as the only rider to break the 2:10.000 barrier. His time of 2:07.018 came in the final session of the day, while Factory Yamaha's Josh Hill put in a season best Saturday effort in second at 2:10.139.

"I'm just going to ride tomorrow like it's any other race," said Stewart. "If I do that the championship will take care of itself. I'm sure I'll be thinking about the championship more when I wake up tomorrow, but it's not like I'm going to hang it out. The track is rough, probably the roughest we have ridden during practice this year. I hope it stays like that and it will be a good day."

Red Bull Honda's Andrew Short rounded out the top three with a time of 2:11.078.

In the AMA Motocross Lites class, Villopoto overcame rival Ryan Dungey, of Rockstar/Makita Suzuki, in the second session to post the quickest lap of the day at 2:10.541. He also grabbed the top spot in each session.

"The track is rough and there are a lot of different lines," said Villopoto. "It's going to be a good race tomorrow because everyone will be able to pass and be aggressive on the track. I'm not thinking about the championship. If it happens that will be good, but I just want another couple of moto wins."

Dungey, a Minnesota native, sits just behind Villopoto with a lap of 2:10.962, setting the stage for another exciting battle between the class' top competitors.

Geico Powersports Honda's Josh Grant set the third fastest lap at 2:11.796.

Sunday's main event action for the Honda Spring Creek Pro National Presented by Scott USA kicks off at 1 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage of the event can be heard on live.motocross.com. SPEED will televise the action for the AMA Motocross class on August 23 at 10 p.m. ET and the AMA Motocross Lites class on August 26 at 2 p.m. ET.

-credit: ama