Houston SX Recap: Musquin Sits Out With Shoulder Injury; Tickle Finishes 8th

HOUSTON,
Texas - Following a stellar performance at the opening round, Red
Bull KTM
Factory Racing's Marvin Musquin experienced a tough evening in
Houston for Round 2 of the AMA Supercross Championship as he
sustained a shoulder injury during 450SX Heat 2 that caused him to
sit out of the Main Event.
His teammate, Broc Tickle, earned an 8th place finish in
only his second official supercross appearance with the team.
Additionally, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM Factory Racing Team's
Shane McElrath finished 4th place in the 250SX West Main
Event.
Musquin came into the second round with plenty of momentum behind
him after winning the highly-anticipated opening round just one
week earlier. The Frenchmen had a good day of qualifying, where he
finished 3rd overall in the day's timed qualifying
sessions.
In 450SX Heat 2, Musquin didn't get the best jump out of the gate
but he quickly put himself into the top five early on. However,
Musquin experienced a crash on lap five that ultimately took him
out of the race with a shoulder injury. Despite all efforts to push
through, Musquin was not able to line up for the Main Event.
Marvin Musquin: "After qualifying 3rd today, I
went down hard in the whoops in my heat race. I landed on my left
shoulder and felt really beat up. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to
line up for the rest of night. I'm really disappointed about that
given the team and I were in a good place after our win last
weekend. But I will get checked up as soon as I get home and will
know more in the next few days. Supercross is a longer season so
I'm hopeful I will be able to line up in Anaheim 2."
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Broc Tickle had a consistent day in
Houston aboard his
KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, finishing 8th overall
in the Main Event. Following a 3rd place finish in his
heat race, Tickle began the Main Event just inside the top ten.
Tickle climbed his way into the 8th place position where
he rode steadily to finish out the day in 8th.
Tickle: "I was really looking forward to
Houston this weekend, I had a really good week of riding and I felt
really comfortable coming into this round. Overall, it was a decent
night, I'm not pumped with where I finished but I am better than
what I was last year. With that being said, that's showing progress
for myself but I'm not okay with 8th, I feel like I
should be fighting for podiums and inside the top five each and
every weekend so I'll keep working this week, ride with the boys
and put in another showing at Anaheim."
250SX West
Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Shane McElrath came
into Round 2 with the red plate as he set his sights on defending
his championship points lead from a Round 1 victory. McElrath got
off to 2nd place start in the Main Event where he
battled for a podium position throughout 18-lap race. With about
four laps to go, McElrath lost a position to ultimately put him in
4th place for the evening.
His teammate, Alex Martin, sustained a small fracture to his right
clavicle at the opening round in Anaheim, thus missing Round 2 in
Houston.
Next Race: Anaheim, Calif. - January 20, 2018
Results 450SX Class Houston
2018
1.Jason Anderson (USA),
Husqvarna, 21:02.261 (23 laps)
2. Ken Roczen (GER), Honda, +03.244
3. Justin Barcia (USA), Yamaha, +16.530
4. Cole Seely (USA), Honda, +20.539
5. Weston Peick (USA), Suzuki, +23.622
Other KTM
7. Blake Baggett (USA), KTM
8. Broc Tickle (USA), KTM
Standings 450SX Class 2018 after 2 of 17
rounds
1. Anderson, 49
2. Roczen, 42
3. Barcia, 42
4. Seely, 36
5. Peick, 36
Other KTM
7. Tickle, 30
9.
Baggett, 27
10. Musquin, 26
Results 250SX West Class Houston
2018
1. Aaron Plessinger (USA),
Yamaha, 16:46.368 min (18 laps)
2. Joey Savatgy (USA), Kawasaki, +04.638 sec
3. Chase Sexton (USA), Honda, +05.940
4. Shane McElrath (USA), KTM,
+07.665
5. Christian Craig (USA),
Honda, +11.033
Other KTM
11. Dakota Alix (USA), KTM
18. Killian Auberson (USA), KTM
19. Ryan Surratt (USA), KTM
Standings 250SX West Class 2018 after 2 of 17
rounds
1. Plessinger, 49 points
2. McElrath, 45
3. Savatgy,
42
4. Cianciarulo, 37
5. Sexton, 36
Other KTM
11. Alix, 23
24.
Martin, 2