Cycle News

SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 / MARCH 2, 2019 MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM / ATLANTA, GEORGIA P72 iii My Own Race: 15 DEAN WILSON 8TH 450SX "I think it was a pretty positive day," said Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). "I qualified third and was riding really well in my heat race. In the main event, I kind of didn't get a great start and just pushed all the way through the checkers. Unfortunately, I only ended up with an eighth and that's not where I want to be." 34 DYLAN FERRANDIS 2ND 250SX EAST/WEST "Last year, I left this stadium with a broken arm, broken jaw and broken teeth, so for sure it's good this year to be on the podium," said Dylan Ferrandis of his night. "I tried not to think about it, but I was thinking about it when I was racing, maybe, so I was riding a little bit with fear, maybe. So, I was not 100 percent, but like I said, it's pretty good to be on the podium tonight, and we showed that the West guys are strong. We rode good, but AC [Adam Cianciarulo] was faster tonight, for sure. But I'm happy." 24 AUSTIN FORKNER 3RD 250SX EAST/WEST "I never like to start thinking about that during a race. Usually, whenever I think, I'm my own worst enemy. But I tried to latch on to Adam [Cianciarulo] after he passed me, but they were just a little bit quicker than me maybe ev- erywhere, but specifically in the whoops. I had two crashes there in practice, and basically I told myself I'm going to jump through these and I'm not going to go any faster through them. I didn't want a repeat of practice. So, I was doing that, and Adam [Cianciarulo] got me, and I wanted to latch on to him, but then, 'Bam,' Dylan [Ferrandis] got me, so I kind of latched on to him for a couple laps, saw that I had a pretty big gap behind me, and I saw it as a win for East Coast. With the day that I've had, I was happy to salvage a third, so I put it on cruise control and brought it on home. The track was getting gnarly and I made a few mistakes that kind of set me back a little bit..." 23 CHASE SEXTON 4TH 250SX EAST/WEST "Atlanta was the best I've felt on the bike so far," said Geico Honda's Chase Sex- ton. "After being sick all week and only riding one and a half days, I was glad I had that comfy feeling on the bike. I qualified second in east and fourth overall, but I wanted the top bad. In the heat race, I got a third-place start and was riding well. I wanted to win it. I got into the lead and I told myself [Austin] Forkner wasn't getting around me. Then I saw the red flag. Unfortunately, on the restart I got passed in the first rhythm lane and basically just hung on Forkner's rear tire the whole race. In the main event, I got another third place start and but got myself into second! I felt solid but I made one slip-up which allowed Adam [Cianciarulo] and then [Dylan] Ferrandis to get by. A couple laps later I ended up going down so I had to settle for fourth. Not a podium, but I'm happy with my riding." 32 JUSTIN COOPER 5TH 250SX EAST/WEST "The bike was awesome all day," said Justin Cooper (Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing). "We didn't play around with the settings much, I felt pretty comfortable all day with the bike. The track conditions were deteriorating every lap out there so it was pretty tough to hit your marks every lap, but all in all I'm very happy with both of my starts tonight, I just didn't get aggressive enough through the first turn. I'm still making little steps forward each week- end and am happy with the progress. It was another solid night with positives to take away."

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