The second round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series made it’s way to Phoenix, Arizona, this weekend, and boy was it a cold one! Record low temperatures greeted all the fans in attendance, but the excitement kept everyone’s blood pumping as Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia dominated their respective classes. For Tomac, the win inside Chase Field marked his second consecutive win, and for Barcia, it marked his first official 450 Supercross win.
250 Supercross Class
Heat One
Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen grabbed the first holeshot of the night, as Ryan Sipes tried to stay close to his rear wheel. However, Roczen’s speed was no match for Sipes as the young German rider slowly started to creep away. Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda’s Cole Seely sat behind Sipes for a couple of laps, but he eventually made the move into second on the third lap. By the time Seely moved into that position, Roczen was long gone. The top three riders would eventually settle into their positions when the white flag flew. Jessy Nelson tried to make a move on Geico Honda’s Zach Osborne for fourth, but the TLD rider wasn’t able to get it done.
Results
1. Ken Roczen (KTM)
2. Cole Seely (Hon)
3. Ryan Sipes (Yam)
4. Zach Osborne (Hon)
5. Jessy Nelson (Hon)
6. Malcolm Stewart (KTM)
7. Kyle Cunningham (Yam)
8. Austin Politelli (Hon)
9. Michael Leib (Hon)
Heat Two
JDR KTM’s newcomer, Joey Savatgy, grabbed the holeshot in heat two, just ahead of Christian Craig and Martin Davalos. Without wasting any time, Davalos jumped into second, and started to apply some pressure to Savatgy. Current points leader, Eli Tomac, suffered from a mid-pack start, but the Geico Honda rider quickly started to move through the pack. On the third lap, he found himself on the rear wheel of Craig. At the halfway mark, all hell broke loose as there were two red cross flags waving in different sections of the track. Privateer Brandon Scharer lost control of his bike in a technical rhythm section, and hit the deck hard. Just in front of him, Davalos was ejected off of his bike while he was battling for the lead with Savatgy. This allowed Tomac to quickly close the gap on the rookie. With two turns to go, Tomac sealed the deal on Savatgy, and the Geico Honda rider would take the win.
Results
1. Eli Tomac (Hon)
2. Joey Savatgy (KTM)
3. Christian Craig (Hon)
4. Jake Canada (Hon)
5. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)
6. Max Anstie (Suz)
7. Topher Ingalls
8. Josh Cachia (KTM)
9. Trevor Reis
250 LCQ
After having a scary heat race crash, Martin Davalos came back strong for the LCQ and took the holeshot ahead of Rhett Urseth and Jason Anderson. The Rocstar Energy Racing rider closed the door on Urseth before a triple, which caused the privateer rider to double. When the white flag came out, it looked as if Anderson would hold onto the final transfer spot, however, a mistake in a rhythm section threw him too the ground. He had a big enough gap to get back going in second, but he fell again trying to remount. This allowed Travis Bright to move into second. Travis Baker did everything he could to get around Bright, but he was unsuccessful. After the race, Davalos said that he was sore from his crash, but he would take things lap by lap.
Results
1. Martin Davalos
2. Travis Bright
250 Main Event
If there’s one thing that Jessy Nelson has proven in the 250 class, it’s that he has his starts dialed. When the gates dropped, the Supercross rookie rocketed out on his Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda. However, his lead was short lived, as Martin Davalos quickly took over. Coming off a second place heat race finish, Joey Savatgy was back at it again as he held onto third. A few spots behind him, though, was the hard charging Eli Tomac. By the seventh lap, Tomac had worked his way all the way up behind Davalos. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider tried to keep the 2012 West Coast Lites champion at bay, however, his efforts would collapse a few short turns later.
A third place battle between Nelson, Seely, and Ken Roczen was brewing strong at the halfway point, but it would be the Red Bull KTM rider who would come out victorious. Once he moved into third, his sights were set on Davalos. It would take a couple more laps before he would reel him in, but he eventually made it happen, and secured the number two spot. Nelson fell back to fifth when his teammate got around him, but he was able to hold onto that spot, despite having the pressure of Zach Osborne behind him.
Seely took a spill late in the race, however, he was able to remount, and just back into the fourth spot. Ryan Sipes had worked his way into the top-five, but a bobble sent him back to seventh before the checkers flew. Tomac would take the win at the end of the 15-lap main, and he now heads into Anaheim II with a six-point lead. Roczen would take another second place finish, and Davalos would take his first podium finish of the season in third.
On a side note, when everyone took off for the start off the main, MCR’s Jake Canada didn’t have his helmet on. He threw it on real quick, however, he didn’t have it strapped on. As a result, he was black-flagged from the race.
Overall 1. Eli Tomac 2. Ken Roczen 3. Martin Davalos 4. Cole Seely 5. Jessy Nelson 6. Zach Osborne 7. Ryan Sipes 8. Kyle Cunningham 9. Joey Savatgy 10. Christian Craig 11. Max Anstie 12. Tyla Rattray 13. Austin Politelli 14. Josh Cachia 15. Travis Bright 16. Trevor Reis 17. Michael Leib 18. Malcolm Stewart 19. Topher Ingalls 20. Jake Canada |
250 Class Championship Points Standings (After 2 of 9 rounds) 1. Eli Tomac (50/2 Wins) 2. Ken Roczen (44) 3. Cole Seely (38) 4. Ryan Sipes (29) 5. Zach Osborne (29) 6. Kyle Cunningham (23) 7. Tyla Rattray (22) 8. Max Anstie (22) 9. Martin Davalos (21) 10. Joey Savatgy (20) |
450 Supercross Class
Heat One
Muscle Milk Honda’s Justin Barcia came out swinging in heat one as he rocketed off the line and edged out Davi Millsaps for the holeshot. As the riders approached the first triple on the track, multiple riders when down, including Ryan Dungey. The Red Bull KTM rider would eventually hop back onto his bike, and enter the track in 19th. Bam Bam slowly started to inch away from Millsaps as the laps counted down. Behind those two riders, Chad Reed did all that he could to make his way around Jake Weimer for third, but he eventually have to settle with a fourth place finish. When the checkered flag came out, Barcia had an eight-second lead on Millsaps, while Weimer, Reed, and Matt Goerke would round out the top-five. As for Dungey, his 13th place finish sent him straight to the LCQ.
Results
1. Justin Barcia (Hon)
2. Davi Millsaps (Suz)
3. Jake Weimer (Kaw)
4. Chad Reed (Hon)
5. Matt Goerke (KTM)
6. Kevin Windham (Hon)
7. Josh Grant (Yam)
8. Weston Peick (Suz)
9. Matt Lemoine (Kaw)
Heat Two
Despite having an injured knee, James Stewart grabbed the holeshot ahead of Mike Alessi, Vince Friese, Andrew Short, and Trey Canard. Friese tried to hang onto that third place position, but Short would eventually sneak on the inside of the privateer rider. Ryan Villopoto would have his work cut out for him as he tried to work his way through the pack after suffering from a mid-pack start. Stewart, meanwhile, had an open track ahead of him, and the Factory Suzuki rider would slowly build up a nice buffer on Alessi. At the five lap mark, Short made his way around the MCR rider, but disaster struck a few turns later, and Shorty hit the deck. He would eventually remount in fifth. When the white flag came out, Canard moved his way into second, and Villopoto was breathing down in neck in third. The two riders battled it out for second, however, the Muscle Milk Honda rider was able to lock down his position.
Results
1. James Stewart (Suz)
2. Trey Canard (Hon)
3. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)
4. Mike Alessi (Suz)
5. Andrew Short (Hon)
6. Justin Brayton (Yam)
7. Kyle Chisholm (Yam)
8. Vince Friese (Hon)
9. Broc Tickle (Suz)
450 LCQ
All eyes were on Ryan Dungey as the gates were about to drop in the 450 LCQ, but it would be Jimmy Albertson who would grab the holeshot. Alex Ray kept Albertson honest as he followed closely behind in second. Dungey had a sixth place start, but he quickly started to pick off riders one-by-one. Within a couple of laps, the Red Bull KTM rider was applying the pressure on Albertson, however; he wasn’t able to make the pass. Albertson and Dungey would transfer into the main when the race came to a close.
Results
1. Jimmy Albertson
2. Ryan Dungey
450 Main Event
At the start of the 20-lap main, Justin Barcia once again hopped into an early lead when he grabbed the holeshot just ahead of Davi Millsaps. Justin Brayton and Mike Alessi would collide in the first turn, which sent the two riders to the very back of the pack. Barcia was on a tear as he worked his way into a five-second lead by the fifth lap. Millsaps still remained in second, however, Reed was trying ever move to get around the points leader. James Stewart and Ryan Villopto found themselves in a battle for seventh, but the battle quickly ended when Villopoto missed a triple. Although Stewart had some breathing room again, the 2012 Supercross champ was back on him a lap later. Once he moved into sixth, he quickly closed the gap on his teammate, Jake Weimer. From there, the fire must have been in RV’s eyes because he began to pick off riders with ease.
Davi Millsaps held onto second place for over half of the race, but with Reed, Canard, and Villopoto all less than a second back from him, the pressure was on the Rockstar Energy Racing rider. Canard wasted no time as he picked up Reed, and then made a pass on Millsaps a few short turns later. Following Canard’s lead, Villopoto was able to to pick the two riders off, and move into third.
Canard looked to have second place locked down, however, a mistake caused him to hit the ground. This allowed Villopoto to move into second, and Millsaps to move back into the top-three. When the checkers flew, Barcia took his first win in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series, while Villopoto and Millsaps rounded off the top-three.
Main Event 1. Justin Barcia 2. Ryan Villopoto 3. Davi Millsaps 4. Chad Reed 5. Trey Canard 6. Jake Weimer 7. James Stewart 8. Ryan Dungey 9. Andrew Short 10. Josh Grant 11. Kevin Windham 12. Broc Tickle 13. Kyle Chisholm 14. Weston Peick 15. Justin Brayton 16. Matt Lemoine 17. Matt Goerke 18. Vince Friese 19. Jimmy Albertson 20. Mike Alessi |
450 Class Championship Points Standings (After 2 of 17 rounds) 1. Davi Millsaps (45/1 Win) 2. Justin Barcia (39/1) 3. Trey Canard (38) 4. Chad Reed (36) 5. Ryan Dungey (33) 6. Jake Weimer (31) 7. Ryan Villopoto (27) 8. Andrew Short (27) 9. James Stewart (27) 10. Josh Grant (21) |