2020 AMA Supercross
Round Two – St. Louis, The Dome
Images by Hoppenworld
450 SX Heat One
Ken Roczen got a great start in Heat 1 but was gazumped at turn one by Vince Friese while defending champion Cooper Webb moved in to third place. Roczen was all over the back of Friese before making a pass on the second lap to move through to the lead.
Vince Friese
Malcolm Stewart then sneaked past Cooper Webb to move up into fourth place. Blake Baggett and Eli Tomac joined that party to make it a very busy four-way tussle over that third place position.
The quartet slicing and dicing each other allowed Roczen to break away, but all four of those riders made short work of Friese and the battle had now become a war over second place. Australian riders Jay Wilson and Chad Reed were ninth and tenth respectively at this halfway stage of the race.
Eli Tomac and Malcolm Stewart eventually stretched away from Webb and Baggett and it was Tomac that secured second place while Stewart rounded out the podium. Cooper Webb won a heady battle over fellow KTM rider Blake Baggett for fourth place.
Friese leads Steward, Baggett and Tomac
Australian Jay Wilson took eighth at the chequered flag to win his spot in the main but after crossing the line in tenth Chad Reed was heading for the LCQ. Countryman Joel Wightman would join him there after finishing 15th.
450 SX Heat Two
Zach Osborne started Heat 2 well but it was Justin Bogle that swept through to the early lead. Adam Cianciarulo was right on Osborne’s hammer from lap two but it was not until the second half of the race that the Monster Energy Kawasaki man made his move.
Zach Osborne leads Jason Anderson
Just before the halfway point Justin Bogle had thrown the Rocky Mountain KTM away in a whoop section and hit the deck. Osborne and Cianciarulo swept through while Osborne eventually rejoined the race outside the top ten.
Justin Barcia moved through to third place late in the race after getting the better of Martin Davalos and Jason Anderson, then held on to that spot all the way to the flag. Cianciarulo was the winner by just over three-seconds from Osborne.
Justin Brayton retired from the race a couple of laps before the end with a mechanical problem. Justin Bogle managed to progress back up the order after that early mistake and crossed the line in ninth place to earn his place in the main.
450 SX LCQ
Chad Reed scored the holeshot in the 450 LCQ and held on to that lead for the opening laps before being overhauled by Justin Brayton who then pulled away to a clear victory.
Late in the race Kyle Cunningham pushed Reed back to third place and that was how it finished. Alex Ray secured the final transfer spot in fourth.
450 SX Final
Zach Osborne scored the holeshot in the 450SX Final but Ken Roczen was all over him throughout the opening lap, before settling a little and instead choosing to bide his time. Justin Barcia was in third place at this early stage of the race as Adam Cianciarulo worked his way up to fourth place after passing Jason Anderson.
AMA Supercross Round Two 2020
Roczen then took the lead from Osborne and the Husqvarna man lost some time as the #94 Honda went past, allowing Barcia to close and pass him for second.
Adam Cianciarulo and Jason Anderson were banging bars over fourth place but it was the more experienced Anderson that came out on top, Cianciarulo was then pushed further back to sixth place by Justin Brayton. Malcolm Stewart was running seventh ahead of Eli Tomac, Justin Hill and Blake Baggett.
Adam Cianciarulo got his head down again eight-minutes into the race and moved back past Brayton and up to fifth place, he then took fourth from Zach Osborne. A couple of laps later his slow starting Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Eli Tomac pushed Brayton further back to sixth place.
Adam Cianciarulo
13-minutes into the race Roczen now had a seven-second lead over Justin Barcia, who in-turn had three-seconds on Jason Anderson. Adam Cianciarulo was a further five-seconds behind in fourth place but with Zach Osborne, Eli Tomac and Malcolm Stewart right behind him.
Adam Cianciarulo dropped the bike on the final lap while in fourth place but managed to pick the KX450F up and eventually salvage seventh place ahead of Justin Brayton.
Almost three years since Ken Roczen’s last supercross victory, after endless pain and extensive operations to try and repair horrific damage suffered to his arms, wrists and hands, the 25-year-old German stood again atop a supercross podium in what was a dominant victory.
AMA Supercross Round Two 2020 – 450 Podium
Justin Barcia took second place ahead of Jason Anderson while Eli Tomac missed the podium in fourth.
Jason Anderson sprays the bubbles next to a jubilant Roczen
Zach Osborne took fifth place ahead of Malcolm Stewart.
Chad Reed failed to finish the race.
Justin Barcia retains the lead in the championship on 49-points while Ken Roczen moves up to second place on 43-points, four-points ahead of Adam Cianciarulo.
2020 AMA Supercross Results
Round Two – St. Louis, The Dome
Source: MCNews.com.au