Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto is satisfied with his second place finish at Southwick, despite stretching his lead in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series by just one point over Ryan Dungey.

Villopoto started the day with the top qualifying time, but track conditions continued to change as rain started to fall.

In the first moto, Villopoto got a good start, but was pushed back to fifth after the second turn. He moved his 2012 model Kawasaki KX450F into second and made a push in the final laps, but couldn’t make a pass in time.

In the second moto, conditions were even worse and Villopoto did what he needed to keep his bike on two wheels to finish fourth.

“It was pretty gnarly out there during the second moto,” said Villopoto. “Even with the sand, the track was slick and it was hard to get into a groove.

“I knew I wanted to make sure I didn’t go down because it is really hard to get going again with your hands covered in mud and sand.

“I would have liked to have left with more than a one-point gain in the championship, but we did get another point ahead of second.”

Villopoto now has an eight point lead in the 450 Class title chase over defending champion Dungey with two rounds remaining.