Cycle News Staff | January 19, 2021
It didn’t take long for Eli Tomac to get back on the right track after his disappointing 13th at the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship just three days ago when he finished 13th. Tuesday night, the defending champion returned to the top step of the podium after a solid performance at round two, held at the same venue, NRG Stadium in Houston.
Tomac Gets Back On Track At Houston 2 Supercross
Eli Tomac bounced back in a big way at the Houston 2 Supercross. Photos: BrownDog Wilson
Tomac reeled off a good start, but not as good as Chase Sexton, who nabbed the holeshot just ahead of Adam Cianciarulo and was looking good in the early stages to win his first career 450SX main event in just his second try.
Cianciarulo’s run at Sexton ended early when he went down in the sand on the fourth lap.
Unfortunately for Sexton, he too was one of the many victims of the newly added sand section, where he lost control of his bike and was catapulted to the ground a lap after Cianciarulo went down. He was slow to his feet and walked back to the pits holding his wrist.
All of a sudden, Tomac found himself leading the way and he would never give it up, despite pressure by Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) for much of the race.
“Starting that way was scary for the points race,” Tomac said of Saturday’s race. “We needed to rebound to get back into this fight and that’s what we did. Chase and Adam were laying down the laps, a burner pace, and I knew it would be a long race, maybe 28 laps, and those guys ended up making mistakes and I capitalized on that. After that, I just found a good line in the whoops and tried to stay efficient.”
Osborne, however, ended up going down late in the race, throwing away a sure second place and even a possible win. Instead, he’ll have to live with getting 10th, at least until the next race just four days from now, again at NRG Stadium.
There was plenty of shuffling going on behind Tomac who ended up taking the checkered flag ahead of Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) in what was just the Frenchman’s second 450SX race of his career.
Ferrandis rode a steady race and took full advantage of mistakes by others to get on the podium, as did third-place finisher Justin Brayton (Muc-Off Honda).
Dylan Ferrandis took a surprising second in just his second 450SX race.
Like Ferrandis, Brayton got off to a great start, stayed out of trouble, and got on the podium for the first time in three years.
“It [getting on the podium] is so hard to come by,” Brayton said. “I’m 36, almost 37, which proves that age is just a number. We’ve worked hard, just like everyone else, but we put in some extra effort and it showed.”
Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) finished fourth, which was a significant improvement from his ninth three days earlier, but he still took the checkered flag some nine seconds behind the winner Tomac which won’t sit well with the 2019 champ.
Thirty-six-year-old Justin Brayton finished on the podium for the first time in three years.
Ken Roczen (Honda HRC) wanted more, as well. He finished fifth after finishing second in the opener, but he will have some solace knowing consistency will be important in this year’s championship, and he is showing that so far. But perhaps best of all, he’s also the new points leader. UPDATED: After the race, Ken Roczen was penalized 4 points for a cross flag violation.
Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), another sand victim, was sixth, followed by Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), and Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), who hasn’t shown his best stuff yet this season, not by a long shot.
But the biggest surprise of the night was the ninth-place finisher, last Saturday’s big winner Justin Barcia (TLD/Red Bull/GasGas). At first, it seemed like it would be another good night for the GasGas rider. He ran off with a heat-race win but was hardly heard from at all in the main event. He got bottled up in the first turn and couldn’t make the passes he needed to in order to get near the front. Instead, he rode around mid-pack for most of the race and finished 25 seconds in back of the winner, Tomac.
Cianciarulo ended up 12th after his earlier get-off.
Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger could never recover from a bad start and finished 16th. Benny Bloss, Martin Davalos, Joey Savatgy, and Sexton were all non-finishers.
Roczen will wear the red plate at the next round signifying the Honda rider as the 450SX points leader. He leads Barcia by one point and Ferrandis by two points. Tonight’s winner, Tomac, is sixth in the standings, five points behind Roczen. Overall, though, it’s still very close at the top with the first eight riders all separated by just eight points.
Jett Lawrence captured his first career 250SX Supercross win.
In the 250SX East main, 17-year-old Aussie Jett Lawrence captured the first Supercross victory of his young career, and he was just brilliant all night. He captured his first-career heat race win earlier in the evening and then dominated the main event, leading from start to finish. He quickly opened up a big lead and made no rookie mistakes to take the win, well ahead of the second-place rider, Colt Nichols, who out-dueled his Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha teammate and last Saturday’s winner Christian Craig.
Craig got off to a ninth-place start and eventually found himself in third dicing with Nichols for the second spot. The two Yamaha riders went back and forth until Nichols claimed the position for good a few laps from the finish, taking the checkers seven seconds behind Lawrence.
A distant fourth was TLD/Red Bull/GasGas Team rider Michael Mosiman who also won his first heat race ever earlier in the evening.
Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) had another solid night in fifth.
Auston Forkner let a sure podium slip away after getting off to a second-place start. He dropped to third when he bobbled in the whoops and had to single the finish-line double, giving away a spot to RJ Hampshire. While trying to get Hampshire back, the two collided in a turn with both riders hitting the ground, both losing many places. Forkner finished out the night in sixth, Hampshire ninth.
Mitchell Oldenburg (seventh), Max Vohland (eighth), Hampshire (ninth), and Josh Osby rounded out the top 10.
Craig still leads the championship by three points over Nichols and four over Lawrence. Forkner is another three points back in fourth. CN
2021 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship
Round 2 of 17
NRG Stadium
Houston, Texas
Results: January 19, 2021
UNOFFICIAL
450SX Main Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
29 laps |
| 2. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
04.976 |
| 3. |
Justin Brayton |
(Hon) |
09.002 |
| 4. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
10.305 |
| 5. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
13.157 |
| 6. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
16.257 |
| 7. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Yam) |
24.019 |
| 8. |
Jason Anderson |
(Hus) |
24.343 |
| 9. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
25.708 |
| 10. |
Zach Osborne |
(Hus) |
26.130 |
250SX East Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
22 laps |
| 2. |
Colt Nichols |
(Yam) |
07.855 |
| 3. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
13.303 |
| 4. |
Michael Mosiman |
(GG) |
18.843 |
| 5. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
21.871 |
| 6. |
Austin Forkner |
(Kaw) |
23.684 |
| 7. |
Mitchell Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
43.003 |
| 8. |
Max Vohland |
(KTM) |
46.734 |
| 9. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
21 laps |
| 10. |
Josh Osby |
(Hon) |
05.519 |
Houston 2 Supercross Qualifying
Round 2 of the Houston Supercross is underway at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, and qualifying has just ended with Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) topping the results in the 250SX East class and Adam Cianciarulo topping the 450SX division.
Cianciarulo Tops 2021 Houston Supercross Rnd 2 Qualifying
Adam Cianciarulo topped 450SX qualifying at the Houston 2 Supercross. Photos: BrownDog Wilson
On a track that is producing slightly shorter laps times than last Saturday’s track, Cianciarulo, Chase Sexton (Honda HRC), and Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) were the only riders able to crack the 41-second mark, while the next 13 riders filled the 42-second bracket, revealing that every slight bobble or missed shift will make a difference on this track. The top 22 riders are all within two seconds of each other.
Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and Ken Roczen (Honda HRC) round out the top five in the 450SX class. Dylan Ferrandis, Eli Tomac, Marvin Musquin, Saturday’s winner Justin Barcia and Justin Brayton complete the top 10.
Osborne said after topping Q1 that traction is so good that it’s like riding on Velcro.
Saturday’s winner in the 250SX East class, Christian Craig nearly got bumped off the top by his teammate Colt Nichols but got a second chance when a rider fell bringing a momentary stoppage to riding. When they got the green flag for the final three minutes, Craig jumped out in front and managed to bust out the quickest time with a clear track ahead of him. Nichols, Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC), Michael Mosiman (GG), and RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) filled out the top five.
Austin Forker (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) fell a couple of times, once fairly hard in the track’s sand section, which prevented last Saturday’s runner-up from putting in any flyers late in the session. As a result, he finished out qualifying sixth-best.
Jo Shimoda, Mitch Oldenburg, Josh Osby, and Thomas Do rounded out the top 10 in the 250SX East division.
Craig seems just as motivated as he was last Saturday and looked consistently fast on the Houston track, which Craig said felt similar to Saturday’s track, “just flipped around.” The new sand section, he said, is the trickiest part of the track. CN
450SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
41.797 |
| 2. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
41.904 |
| 3. |
Zach Osborne |
(Hus) |
41.989 |
| 4. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Yam) |
42.125 |
| 5. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
42.130 |
| 6. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
42.260 |
| 7. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
42.415 |
| 8. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
42.422 |
| 9. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
42.444 |
| 10. |
Justin Brayton |
(Hon) |
42.459 |
250SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
42.138 |
| 2. |
Colt Nichols |
(Yam) |
42.151 |
| 3. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
42.290 |
| 4. |
Michael Mosiman |
(GG) |
42.744 |
| 5. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
42.747 |
| 6. |
Austin Forkner |
(Kaw) |
42.808 |
| 7. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
42.951 |
| 8. |
Mitch Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
43.405 |
| 9. |
Josh Osby |
(Hon) |
43.948 |
| 10. |
Thomas Do |
(KTM) |
44.054 |
2021 Monster Energy Supercross/Telecast Schedule
| Saturday, January 16 |
Houston (East) |
NBCSN |
6 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, January 19 |
Houston (East) |
NBCSN* |
10:30 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, January 23 |
Houston (East) |
NBCSN |
8 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, January 30 |
Indianapolis (East) |
NBCSN |
8 p.m. ET |
| Sunday, January 31 |
Indianapolis (East) |
NBC** |
5 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, February 2 |
Indianapolis (East) |
NBCSN* |
11 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, February 6 |
Indianapolis (East) |
NBCSN |
8 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, February 13 |
Orlando (East) |
NBCSN |
7:30 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, February 20 |
Orlando (West) |
NBCSN |
7 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, March 6 |
Daytona (West) |
NBCSN |
7 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, March 13 |
Arlington (West) |
NBCSN |
7 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, March 16 |
Arlington (West) |
NBCSN* |
10:30 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, March 20 |
Arlington (West) |
NBCSN* |
10:30 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, April 10 |
Atlanta (West) |
NBC |
3 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, April 13 |
Atlanta (West) |
NBCSN* |
10 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, April 17 |
Atlanta (West) |
NBCSN* |
8:30 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, April 24 |
Salt Lake City (West) |
NBCSN |
7 p.m. ET |
| Saturday, May 1 |
Salt Lake City (East) |
NBCSN |
10 p.m. ET |
| Sunday, May 2 |
Salt Lake City (East/West) |
NBC** |
1:30 p.m. ET |
*Same-day delay
**Taped coverage
Click here for complete 2021 Houston Supercross Rnd 2 Results.
