2019 AMA Supercross 2019
Round 13 – Houston
Report by Darren Smart – Images by Hoppenworld
Houston hosted the 13th round of the AMA Supercross Championships last weekend and it was Cooper Webb and Dylan Ferrandis who took maximum points in the 450SX and 250SX West respectively in the third and final ‘triple crown’ main event format for the year.
450SX Report
The triple crown program features three 12 minute main events and Ken Roczen not only pulled the holeshot in the first of the three but the German also went on to win by a staggering 10 seconds.
The action behind changed the status within team KTM and this championship after Marvin Musquin and Webb ‘drive bombed’ each other at almost every turn for the first few laps until Musquin got pushed off the track by Webb as they entered ‘the wall jump’ that preceded the sand section.
Musquin dropped several spots but he was clearly the fastest on the track and was quickly trying to get around third placed Dean Wilson to get back to Webb. The two came together however as they entered a right-hand berm forcing Marvin to miss the corner, crash on the slippery cement then join up behind Tomac who put up no fight at the line to lose fifth place.
Oblivious to the drama behind, Roczen took the win ahead of Webb and Wilson and while the second main didn’t see the same ‘bar banging’ action it did see Roczen go down in the first corner before leaving the stadium with what seemed to be a damaged knee or ankle.
Webb rallied to score the win over Dean Wilson and Musquin, while in the third main Musquin squirted away for the win ahead of Eli Tomac and a cruising Webb who was fully aware that a third would give him the overall ahead of Musquin and Wilson.
Eli Tomac (6-7-2), Cole Seely (4-4-11), Zach Osborne (10-6-4), Justin Bogle (8-5-7), Blake Baggett (9-9-6), Joey Savatgy (7-11-9) and Ken Roczen (1-21-8) rounded out the top ten.
Webb now has a 17-point lead with four rounds remaining and admitted that he got a little frustrated during the opening moto and will learn from the experience. The good news for Roczen fans is that the Honda rider came back out for the final race and finished 8th – news of his injury status will be confirmed in the coming days.
Cooper Webb
“It is intense racing. I got frustrated and let it show, that is not the way to do it for sure because we let Ken (Roczen) get away, I will learn from it and try to contain the emotions a bit better and like Marv said, we are team mates but we are one and two in the championships so it’s a tough line but I will be better moving forward.”
Marvin Musquin
“Triple crown is always intense with only 12 minute races so everyone is pushing really hard and I made the pass (on Webb) in the first left hander but then got passed in the whoops before making a good pass on Cooper, everyone was pushing hard and Cooper made an aggressive pass on me which pushed me off the track but this is triple crown and you have to be consistent so sometimes it is not the fastest guy who wins the overall.”
Dean Wilson
“Getting back on the podium feels great, it’s been over a year but it is a tough class, I put myself in good positions in the first two races with top three off the start which helps so much, overall my riding has been good but it is a mental game for me because I have been bucked off the horse quite a few times so sometimes I don’t believe in myself like I should, I want to thank my support group for getting me through this.”
Eli Tomac
“We landed just shy of the podium tonight. This quick, back-to-back Triple Crown race format can be challenging, especially when you don’t get the starts you’re hoping for. I put it all out there tonight; the crew and I will get back to work this weekend and hope to turn it all the way on for these last few rounds. We’ll use what we’ve learned from tonight and apply it to next week’s race in Nashville.”
Zach Osborne
“Overall, it was a decent day, I feel like I’m building every weekend and that last Main Event I took fourth with a decent start, so I feel like there’s more to come and I’m finally finding my place.”
Joey Savatgy
“After battling the flu all week, I definitely feel like I put everything I had out there and feel proud of what we were able to still accomplish. These last few weekends have been some of my best this season, and I feel like my KX450 is just getting better as time goes on. We were able to earn a few more points and I still have four more chances at grabbing that podium spot.”
450SX Main Event 1 Houston
- Ken Roczen
- Cooper Webb +08.562
- Dean Wilson +12.686
- Cole Seely +13.844
- Marvin Musquin +15.714
- Eli Tomac +15.762
- Joey Savatgy +21.666
- Justin Bogle +22.915
- Blake Baggett +24.379
- Zach Osborne +30.688
450SX Main Event 2 Houston
- Cooper Webb
- Dean Wilson +03.121
- Marvin Musquin +05.106
- Cole Seely +06.664
- Justin Bogle +09.287
- Zach Osborne +10.119
- Eli Tomac +11.608
- Justin Hill +20.271
- Blake Baggett +22.249
- Tyler Bowers +32.805
450SX Main Event 3 Houston
- Marvin Musquin
- Eli Tomac +06.001
- Cooper Webb +09.800
- Zach Osborne +10.932
- Dean Wilson +13.339
- Blake Baggett +14.781
- Justin Bogle +19.785
- Ken Roczen +23.935
- Joey Savatgy +26.726
- Justin Hill +27.518
450SX Overall Results
- Cooper Webb: 2-1-3 = 26pts
- Marvin Musquin: 5-3-1 = 23pts
- Dean Wilson: 3-2-5= 21pts
- Eli Tomac: 6-7-2 = 19pts
- Cole Seely: 4-4-11 = 18pts
- Zach Osborne: 10-6-4 = 17pts
- Justin Bogle: 8-5-7 = 16pts
- Blake Baggett: 9-9-6 = 15pts
- Joey Savatgy: 7-11-9 = 14pts
- Ken Roczen: 1-21-8 = 13pts
450SX Points after 13 of 17 Rounds
- Cooper Webb – 288
- Marvin Musquin – 271
- Eli Tomac – 262
- Ken Roczen – 252
- Blake Baggett – 215
- Dean Wilson – 201
- Joey Savatgy – 173
- Cole Seely – 160
- Chad Reed – 151
- Justin Barcia – 150
250 West Coast Report
It looked like Adam Cianciarulo was set to extend his 15-point lead over Ferrandis in the championship after the Kawasaki rider won the opening main well ahead of Ferrandis and RJ Hampshire.
However the second moto turned sour when Adam spewed through the tuff boxes on the exit of the first corner and then as he was coming back through the field he clipped another rider mid-air and crashed his way to a tenth place finish as Ferrandis cruised to a win ahead of Hampshire, Garrett Marchbanks and Nichols.
The final main saw Nichols out front ahead of Ferrandis while Cianciarulo was once again on the ground but Adam quickly made his way through the pack to end the race in third behind Nichols and his teammate Ferrandis who scored his second overall win in two weeks to be just five points behind championship leader Cianciarulo with two rounds remaining.
Ferrandis, Hampshire and Nichols got to enjoy the podium accolades while Cianciarulo (1-10-3), James Decotis (6-5-6), Cameron Mcadoo (9-6-5), Justin Starling (12-8-8), Sean Cantrell (11-7-13), Garrett Marchbanks (10-3-19) and Chris Blose (8-19-7) rounded out the top ten.
Dylan Ferrandis
“It feels good to get two wins in a row. It gave me even more confidence in myself and my riding. Like I said last time, I really like the Triple Crown format. I just needed to be consistent tonight to get a good result. It’s what I did and I finally took the win. I’m now five points from the leader, which gives me a chance for the championship. We have the weekend off next week, but once again I will train hard to be ready for the final two rounds.”
RJ Hampshire
“I haven’t cracked to top five in the recent races so we made huge improvements this week with the bike so I had good starts all night that lead into good finishes, I didn’t do anything special all day, I just rode so stocked to be up here in second place.”
Colt Nichols
“The bike was great. Made a change to the suspension after the first main and it was great, so huge thank you to the team for suggesting and making the change to the bike. The track conditions were awesome, and the dirt here in Texas is great. Quick turnaround between the mains, so fitness was key and I was happy with how I felt all night. The main thing that hurt me in the first two mains was my starts. I finally got off to a good start in that last one with the holeshot. I almost rode a little tight in the lead… It just felt so good to win again. Overall, it was an awesome night in Houston.”
Adam Cianciarulo
“Tonight was a big test for me, yes I lost points and I am not happy about that, but I think I did my best to keep my composure to not make a bad situation worse. It kills me that I made the mistake in the second main, and the third main event wasn’t my fault, but I can’t dwell on this. I have to learn from it and move on. We get a week off to think about it – not sure if it’s good or bad – but we’ll be ready when we come to Denver in two weeks.”
Garrett Marchbanks
“These triple crowns haven’t been very kind to me overall, but it was really great getting on the podium in the second race. I felt so good in that second race and really wish I could have been out there for the final one. I’m definitely glad to get a weekend off and come back strong in Denver.”
The West Coast riders have a break next weekend as the East Coast riders head to Nashville for their seventh round.
250SX Main Event 1 Houston
- Adam Cianciarulo
- Dylan Ferrandis +07.860
- Rj Hampshire +08.691
- Michael Mosiman +11.512
- Colt Nichols +12.042
- James Decotis +18.290
- Jacob Hayes +21.939
- Chris Blose +26.978
- Cameron Mcadoo +37.364
- Garrett Marchbanks +44.417
250SX Main Event 2 Houston
- Dylan Ferrandis
- Rj Hampshire +04.740
- Garrett Marchbanks +15.185
- Colt Nichols +16.769
- James Decotis +20.396
- Cameron Mcadoo +23.735
- Sean Cantrell +40.208
- Justin Starling +43.613
- Michael Leib +46.172
- Adam Cianciarulo +48.598
250SX Main Event 3 Houston
- Colt Nichols
- Dylan Ferrandis +05.500
- Adam Cianciarulo +11.939
- Rj Hampshire +13.627
- Cameron Mcadoo +15.488
- James Decotis +28.084
- Chris Blose +36.427
- Justin Starling +43.022
- Martin Castelo +46.117
- Jacob Hayes +1 Lap
250 West Coast Overall Results
- Dylan Ferrandis: 2-1-2 = 26pts
- RJ Hampshire: 3-2-4 = 23pts
- Colt Nichols: 5-4-1 = 21pts
- Adam Cianciarulo: 1-10-3 = 19pts
- James Decotis: 6-5-6 = 18pts
- Cameron Mcadoo: 9-6-5 = 17pts
- Justin Starling: 12-8-8 = 16pts
- Sean Cantrell: 11-7-13 = 15pts
- Garrett Marchbanks: 10-3-19 = 14pts
- Chris Blose: 8-19-7 = 13pts
Dylan Ferrandis: 2-1-2 = 26pts
RJ Hampshire: 3-2-4 = 23pts
Colt Nichols: 5-4-1 = 21pts
250 West Coast Points after 8 of 10 Rounds
- Adam Cianciarulo – 182
- Dylan Ferrandis – 177
- Colt Nichols – 142
- RJ Hampshire – 126
- Shane Mcelrath – 123
- James Decotis – 112
- Chris Blose – 111
- Cameron Mcadoo – 111
- Michael Mosiman – 110
- Garrett Marchbanks – 99
250 East Coast Points after 6 of 9 Rounds
- Austin Forkner – 151
- Chase Sexton – 125
- Justin Cooper – 123
- Alex Martin – 92
- Martin Davalos – 89
- Mitchell Oldenburg – 88
- Brandon Hartranft – 82
- Kyle Cunningham – 81
- Kyle Peters – 79
- Jordon Smith – 70
Post Race Press Conference
Source: MCNews.com.au