Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1333258
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 26, 2021 P63 performance, defending champ Eli Tomac bounced back with a big win Tuesday night over 450SX rookie Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and 36-year-old Justin Brayton (Muc-Off Honda). The win came at just the right time for Tomac, as Barcia was having a bad night with his broken shift lever, and it shot the Kawasaki rider right back in the title hunt. Tomac admitted afterward that he was worried after his race- one results. However, a 10th-place start Saturday kept Tomac off the podium for a second time in three races, though he made some key passes on Jason Anderson, Malcolm Stewart and Aaron Plessinger to get fifth. Tomac goes into India- napolis fourth in points but just six ticks behind Roczen. After falling while in a po- dium position Tuesday night, Adam Cianciarulo rebounded Saturday night to get on the podium but was 14 seconds adrift of Roczen. 250SX East Colt Nichols flew into this year's 250SX East Championship un- der the radar and in the shad- ows of his teammate Christian Craig, Monster Energy/Pro Cir- cuit/Kawasaki's Austin Forkner, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's RJ Hampshire and Honda HRC's young superstar Jett Lawrence, but the 26-year-old veteran is leaving Houston as a championship co-leader. Nich- ols finished third at the opener, second at round two and rode brilliantly in round three to take his first win in two years (since Anaheim 1, 2019). Nichols hit his stride Satur- day night after stalking Craig and finally making the pass on him for the lead, but Craig quickly retaliated, putting his Yamaha back on point. But Nichols didn't give up and went after him once again, passing Craig for a second time two laps later and then quickly put- ting a little distance between himself and the round-one win- PLESSINGER'S WILD RIDE Aaron Plessinger didn't have the night he wanted after a couple of big mishaps in the main event Tuesday. "I got a pretty good jump and drove it in pretty hard," he said. "I felt like I came out decent for what it was. Coming through the pack I went to pass [Jason] Anderson and hit an edge in the whoops. I jumped onto the hay bales—it was like a step on step off in the hay bales—and then I jumped into the base of the finish line and stopped then just kind of tipped over off onto the concrete. It was a wild ride. It could've been a lot worse." Plessinger had a better night Saturday, running as high as fourth for a while before slipping back to seventh. FAST BUT... Zach Osborne was plenty fast in Hous- ton, but his results haven't reflected that so far. Bad starts and untimely crashes has been his downfall so far this year. "My night was rather disappointing, hon- estly," Osborne said Saturday night. "I feel like I'm riding the best I've ever been riding in my life—and in my 450 career— and to start with two 10th places and a ninth is a little disappointing." HOUSTON 2-3 SUPERCROSS NOTES: Chase Sexton had an MRI on his injured shoulder Sunday (January 24) and results are expected later this week. At the moment, there is no timetable as far as a possible return... The Houston 3 track featured for the first time this season a right-hand first turn... Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motor- sports Suzuki) failed to qualify for the 450SX main after crashing in his heat and getting a bad start in the LCQ... Max Anstie hops to join the SX Series soon after breaking "something little in my back" just prior to Houston 1. Briefly...