Five Takeaways From Supercross Round 13 At Houston
In years past we've recapped each Supercross race with a series of
questions posed to several of our Chaparral Motorsports employees
and industry insiders. This year we've decided to change things up
a bit and will be posing questions to you guys via our Facebook and
Instagram (@chaparralMoto) pages, so be sure to head over and give
us your thoughts on our questions. For our blog we are going to
give our insight on the Top Five Takeaways from each race. A mix of
highlights, lowlights, or just random observations; you'll get to
read what we saw, or what we thought we saw.
Editor's note: I have never raced dirt bikes, so I have no
personal experience as to the grit and grind these guys sacrifice
their bodies to week in and week out. But I love watching the races
and respect the hell out of each and every one of them for putting
their lives and livelihood on the line each and every time they
roll up to the starting line.
More stuffing Than a Thanksgiving Dinner
Who did it better, Webb or Ferrandis?
During
the first 450 main, after teammates and training partners Cooper
Webb and Marvin Musquin exchanged a few nibbles back and forth,
Webb finally got fed up with Musquin and took a bite out of the
left side of his
450 SX-F and knocked him over the side of the wall jump.
Or was
Dylan Ferrandis' move to take the lead from Chris Blose in the
second 250 Main the better stuff? Ferrandis ran Blose wide in the
last corner on the track so that Blose had no real estate left when
they came out of the turn and Blose ended up eating up a tuff
block?
It's gotta be the Webb move right?
I mean how awkward and tense must that KTM pit
have been after that race? But kudos to Webb and Musquin for
seemingly keeping their cool to ensure a
KTM 1-2 (respectively) podium finish for the night.
Mcadoo Makes Do
The opening straightaway and the 90 degree hole shot turn wreaked
havoc on Geico Honda Amsoil Factory Connection rider Cameron
McAdoo. However, despite back-to-back messy starts in 250 Main One
and Two he managed to make do and salvaged his night with a top ten
finish.
In the first 250 Main Mcadoo got a great start and was out in front
to grab the hole shot but when he launched off the first turn jump
he was veering off right and when he came down there was nothing
there for him to land on except for a tuff block. I'll give him the
benefit of the doubt because it did look like the corner of that
tuff block was sticking out on the track a bit. He did have a nice
dismount though. He hit the ground running-he's just lucky the
Kawasaki blow up wall was there to stop him because he could still
be trying to stop himself. Jumping back in to the race Mcadoo
powered through half the field for a 9th place
finish.
McAdoo's start in the second 250 Main wasn't any better for the
Honda 250 rider. In fact he didn't even make it to the hole
shot jump. A chain reaction of bumping and jockeying for position
into the first turn sent a three pack of riders: Adam Cianciarulo,
Jacob Hayes, and Mcadoo off the track. Cianciarulo was the only one
that was able to keep it on two wheels. Mcadoo and Hayes both took
diggers off the track. This time it was the Fly Racing blow up wall
that saved Mcadoo from hitting the cement and potentially injuring
himself. After a quick remount and sitting at the rear of the field
Mcadoo made a hard charge to regain position and managed to ride
all the way to 6th place.
In the third Main Mcadoo made it out of the first turn unscathed
and ended the evening with his best finish of the night with a
5th which helped him secure a 6th overall for
the Houston Triple Crown. Pretty impressive considering his first
two starts.
Roczen's Leg Scare
After breezing through the first 450 Main with a nearly 10 second
margin of victory over second place finisher, Webb, Roczen's get
off down the start straight in the second Main had fans gasping and
holding their breath. Roczen was ripping down the left side of the
opening straight and then about half way down his front tire got
into the rear of Dean Wilson's Husky and then the next thing we saw
was Roczen ninja rolling across the track. Miraculously he wasn't
hit or run over by any of the other riders. But when he popped to
his feet he was hobbling back to his bike which had people fearing
the worst.
At the time, the pain was severe enough and bike in such poor
condition that Roczen pulled out of the race and went back to the
pits. Thankfully and to the relief of just about everyone the
injury didn't keep him out of the third Main and he bounced back
with an 8th for a 10th place finish
overall.
Tomac Takes it Easy
Fans of Eli Tomac had to be pulling their hair out after the first
450 Main. With no time on the clock and two laps left in the race
ET3 was sitting in 5th with a slight 2 second lead on
Musquin. Musquin began closing the gap and was on Eli's back wheel
by the final half of the last lap. Then for whatever reason Tomac
basically just shut it down after coming out of the very last turn
and rolled up the finish line. Meanwhile Musquin held it open and
launched over the line to snatch 5th place away. (skip
to the 12:54 mark)
There's no way Tomac couldn't have known Musquin was there because
the two riders nearly get into each other three turns before. In a
race where every position counts for the cumulative score at the
end of three mains, taking it easy on the final jump doesn't seem
like a smart move.
Cianciarulo Loses Valuable Points
Nothing proves how much one bad race in a Triple Crown event can
affect your overall points than the second Main event that Adam
Cianciarulo had. Granted the results could have been much worse; he
could have gotten injured, or taken out by Justin Startling.
However, even though he had great first and third main event races,
that 10th place finish in the second main led to his
overall points lead on Dylan Ferrandis for the West Coast 250 title
being cut down by more than half. Going into Houston Cianciarulo
had a 12 point lead on Ferrandis, and coming out of Houston he now
only has a five point lead.
On Ferrandis' side of things it helps significantly that he had a
great night and put in three successful races going 2-1-2 to
win the Triple Crown event and score the maximum 26 points.
That second Main event
was quite the doozy for Cianciarulo. First he went off the track on
the opening start and then he tried to avoid crashing into Sean
Cantrell's KTM mid-flight on the over/under bridge by sticking his
arm out to push Cantrell out of the way. It was a pretty wild
sight. And it only got more intense after Cianciarulo bailed on the
backside and nearly got his clock cleaned by Justin Starling when
running back to jump on his bike. It's pretty amazing and he's
really lucky that he was able to pull a 10 spot out from that race
and didn't lose any more points.
These final three races between Cianciarulo and Ferrandis for the
250 West title are going to be awesome!
