Supercross: Martin Does Daytona
| March 5, 2016
If someone says this is the best start to a supercross series that two-time 250cc National MX Champion Jeremy Martin has ever had, it should be pointed out that such a statement represents a very low bar. He has missed main events entirely early in his first two 250cc supercross seasons, but he’s beginning to figure supercross out.
Jeremy Martin celebrates the 250SX East win at Daytona. Photography by Hoppenworld.com
At round one of the 250cc Eastern Regional Supercross Championship last weekend in Atlanta, the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha racer overcame a terrible start to land his best-ever finish at a supercross-series opener with fourth place behind 11-year 250SX veteran Martin Davalos (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart, and Yamaha teammate Aaron Plessinger.
Round two, however, was the Daytona Supercross. Daytona is known to be the most “outdoor” supercross track in the series, which represents somewhat of an advantage for Martin, and he made good inside the Daytona tri-oval, dogging race leader Stewart for the first dozen laps or so before capitalizing on a mistake to take the lead with just a few laps to go. And the pass couldn’t have come sooner for Martin, as Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM’s Justin Hill was breathing down his neck, and Davalos wasn’t much farther back.
Hill made it by Stewart in the same spot a lap later for second, and then Stewart stalled two turns before the finish, handing third place to Davalos. Stewart held on for fourth in front of Plessinger.
But the night belonged to Jeremy Martin.
“You can always be better, you know?” Martin said. “We worked a lot on bike setup and proper technique for supercross, because it’s a whole different animal from outdoors. I like to bulldog it, and you can’t really do that in supercross.”
After two rounds, Davalos still leads the points by two over Martin, with Stewart, Hill and Plessinger all within nine points of the championship lead as the series heads to Toronto next weekend.
– Steve Cox
RESULTS
250SX East
- Jeremy Martin (Yam)
- Justin Hill (KTM)
- Martin Davalos (Hus)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hon)
- Aaron Plessinger (Yam)
- Arnaud Tonus (Kaw)
- RJ Hampshire (Hon)
- Jesse Wentland (Hon)
- Tyler Bowers (Kaw)
- Shane McElrath (KTM)
- Benny Blose (Yam)
- Cedric Soubeyras (Kaw)
- Anthony Rodriguez (Kaw)
- Dakota Alix (KTM)
- Gannon Audette (Kaw)
- Jimmy Albertson (Suz)
- Vann Martin (Hon)
- Joshua Cartwright (Yam)
- Matt Bisceglia (Suz)
- Paul Coates (Hon)
- Justin Starling (Kaw)
- Alexander Frye (KTM)
