Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 4 / JANUARY 26, 2019 MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA / US BANK STADIUM P62 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS iii My Own Race: 26 ALEX MARTIN 4TH 250SX EAST Alex Martin finished fourth in the 250SX main in his JGRMX/Yoshimura/ Suzuki Team debut. "Qualifying went pretty well. I was a tad too aggres- sive, but overall, I was very close to the leaders," he said. "You could basically throw a blanket over all of us. I was very comfortable on the bike. Jordon Smith and I had a really good pace going in the heat race. I had the fastest lap time out of both heat races, so I was happy with that. In the main event I got off to a great start and felt really good on the [bike]. Smith, Martin Davalos and I had a battle going. Unfortunately, Davalos and I came together and he went down. I apologized to him afterwards. I thought I had third in the bag, but a few lappers messed me up, which allowed Justin Cooper to set me up for the pass. It was a bummer to not finish on the podium, but to be honest, fourth is the best start I've ever had to a supercross season. The goal was to get the first round out of the way." 23 CHASE SEXTON 5TH 250SX EAST Chase Sexton (Geico Honda) was in the thick of things all night and finished out the 250SX main in the top five. "It was fun getting back to racing!" said Sexton. "My riding and speed were solid I just struggled with some mistakes in the night show. The main event I was feeling decent and was looking to make a pass for third, but 'A-Mart' [Martin] ended up missing a rhythm and I almost landed on him. I really had nowhere to go and I went down. I ended up fifth which is not what I wanted." 55 KYLE PETERS 10TH 250SX EAST Last year in Minnesota, Kyle Peters injured his knee. This year, things went much bet- ter for him. "The day was okay," he said. "I rode stiff and was fighting myself. The heat race went well, but I was tight. I had a bad start in the main event, didn't breathe, and pumped up really badly. I was stuck behind a downed rider for a bit, which messed me up. The track was tough to pass on. You had to be aggressive. I know what I need to work on, but it was fun to be back behind the gate again." 112 THOMAS COVINGTON 11TH 250SX EAST In his first supercross since he returned from Europe at the end of 2018, Thomas Coving- ton (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) concen- trated on just getting the race in the books. "It was a solid first weekend for me," Covington said. "I was definitely a little bit nervous and tight throughout the whole day but each session got a little bit better and I squeaked into the main event in the heat. In the main, I just went out and had as much fun as I could out there and it turned out pretty good. I was happy with how the bike was working and everything, just have to get back to work this week and hopefully progress next weekend." 73 MARTIN DAVALOS 6TH 250SX EAST If Martin Davalos (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki) stays healthy and completes the 2019 season, he should have over 100 250cc main-event starts to his name by the end of the year, but his race in Minneapolis didn't go the way he wanted. He was running second five laps into the main event when he was knocked down, and his race unraveled from there. "It was a bummer to be riding well at the start of the main event and then get hit," Davalos said. "I felt good all day, just had to overcome a few mistakes here and there. The rest of the field is riding well and you have to limit those mistakes, which I'll be work- ing on this week. Next week will be a bit different because the dirt is a lot more hard packed, so we'll see if we can get back up to the front."

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