Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
The entertainment value for supercross always goes up for me when things head east. The dirt is a little softer, there are a few more track lines for the riders to choose from and that makes for a lot of exciting racing. The Atlanta Supercross was one of the best rounds so far, in my opinion. That sand section caused a ton of issues for just about every rider who ran it. You would think by now most riders know how to ride sand, but even top riders like Stewart and Canard had problems. The track was pretty technical with that dragon’s back section straight into the sand trap. If you could figure out your lines going into that section, the rest of the track was a breeze. The fans in Atlanta are pretty hard core; it always sells out in that area of the country. Last year they had two Atlanta supercross venues back to back. I am guessing that didn’t work out very well.
RJ Hampshire is one of the fast young Geico Honda riders who will no doubt challenge for wins throughout the 250SX East Series.
We got to see plenty of new faces this weekend in the Lites class. That’s because it’s round one of the east coast series, so the west coast guys had a chance to kick back and watch the east coast guys fight it out. No one really knows who the main dude will be. Sure there a few riders that can win it but who has done their homework during the off-season? I want to say that the east is a little more stacked than the west. Usually it’s the west that has the big hitters, but that isn’t the case this year. Malcolm Stewart was the rider on the top of the list for fantasy pools I bet. How many people picked Martin Davalos again this year? Did I hear right he has been competing in the Lites class for 11 years? Hang on! Wait…11 years in the Lites class? Is that even allowed to happen? He has only won three Lites supercross in 11 years! I am guessing the AMA would know if he has pointed out or not. Well, I sure hope he can get his “you-know-what” together and win this series so he can let the kids play. Outdoor National Champion Jeremy Martin is hoping for a way better series this year. Last year he had some bad luck and missed qualifying for a few rounds. TLD west coast factory rider Justin Hill will be a title threat as well. Newcomer Aaron Plessinger is another rider that will be up front most rounds. Let’s not forget the other two Geico Honda teammates, RJ Hampshire and Shane McElrath. As I mentioned before, this series is stacked with solid riders. How about the Arenacross champ Tyler Bowers and his teammate from Switzerland Arnaud Tonus? That’s a lot of really fast Lites riders, in my opinion. So what happened in Atlanta? Well, there was a lot of crashing and a heavy dose of bad luck for some key riders. There were guys that looked great but faded pretty hard too. One rider that had no real bad luck and checked out early was Martin Davalos on his factory Rockstar Husky. He got a great start and put in some series lap times, allowing him to get the job done and win his third ever supercross. Finishing second was Malcolm Stewart. Yes, Mookie had some bad luck crashing into a fallen McElrath in the sand section. Third for the night was Plessinger; look for him on the podium in Daytona. Fourth for the night was Jeremy Martin. Not the finish he wanted but I feel it’s a good start to the series. Justin Hill looked great on his TLD KTM until he hit the deck at the start in the final. Justin went from 22nd to 5th for the night. If he can get a start, expect to see this young man up front. It was good to see Tyler Bowers back on the bike after back surgery. Tyler has the speed but the endurance is not quite there yet. We all know his determination and I am sure he is working on it.
The big bike class had an exciting finish. Marvin Musquin looked like he had this one until the last lap when he was putting James Stewart down a lap. Marvin held off Dungey for all nineteen and a half laps until they tried passing Bubba. The three riders exited the corner with Bubba leading the group into a technical triple double dragon back section. Marvin nailed it every lap except this one, and this gave Dungey the opportunity to strike and make the pass. Deep down, I am sure Ryan was pumped for his teammate and training buddy, but racing is racing and who wants to finish second? You could see it on Marvin’s face after the finish line – clearly he was pissed. This could have been the night, could have been his first 450 win. At least we know Marvin has the speed and ability to do it. I see Marvin winning one of these events in 2016. Now was Bubba in the way? I don’t think he was really but it would have been nice of him to let the leaders by so they could fight it out. I am sure Marvin was distracted with Dungey breathing down his neck and making sure he didn’t hit or collide into Bubba. Finishing 3rd for the night was Chad Reed. Atlanta has been good to Chad as he won it last year. Good to see Millsap up to 4th and his teammate, Brayton, finishing 5th. Pretty cool to see four KTMs in the top five. Not a good night for James in 14th, but at least he finished the race. Not an ideal night for Trey Canard back in 16th. There was bad news for Short, Wil Hahn and Nicoletti. All three riders went down hard in the semi and did not return for the night. It looks like Wil Hahn will be out with a broken collarbone for a few weeks.
That’s it for this week. Daytona Supercross is this coming weekend. This is one supercross that really separates the men from the boys. Look for Tomac and Marvin in the 450 class, and I am putting my money on Malcolm and Martin. See you at the races!
