Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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SUPERCROSS ROUND 5 / FEBRUARY 6, 2016 UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM / GLENDALE, ARIZONA P50 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Briefly... HRC Honda's Trey Canard chose not to compete in Arizona but instead give his banged-up hand at least another week to heal. It was injured at Anaheim 2 and he tried to race the following round at Oakland but just couldn't hold on to the handlebars. The status of his return is week to week. The University of Phoenix Stadium track was unique in that it featured probably the longest indoor start straight in supercross history. Usu- ally, riders start in second gear and never make a shift before the first turn, or shift into third for a brief mo- ment, but in Phoenix, they were able to reach fourth gear and hold onto it for a while. Roczen liked the long straight and actually felt that it was safer "…because the field spreads out a little more by the time you get to the first turn," he said. Overall, the track was a little longer in length, very technical with a nasty whoop section, and a small portion of the track even went outside the stadium. Lap times were a little over minute. "The track was something else here tonight," Roczen said. "It was way more high-speed than it usually is and was a lot harder than the previ- ous races that we've done now. It had the longest start that I've ever done in a supercross race, which was pretty cool." Chad Reed had a quiet night in Ari- zona. The Monster Energy/360fly/ Chaparral Yamaha Team rider was eighth in qualifying, finished third in his heat race (11 seconds behind winner Davi Millsaps and 10 seconds behind runner-up Ken Roczen), and ended up sixth in the main, finishing 25 seconds behind winner Roczen. The entire Yoshimura Suzuki Team was a no-show. With both its team riders—James Stewart and Blake Baggett—sidelined with injuries, they team decided to sit this one out completely and save a little on traveling expenses. Stewart is still recovering from his opening- round concussion and Baggett a bruised shoulder. "After retiring from the race with vision problems in Oakland, we encouraged James to undergo further testing and make sure he is 100 percent healthy before returning to racing," said Yoshimura Suzuki Team Manager Mike Webb. "And Blake took a big hit to the same shoulder he just had surgery on [in Oakland]. Fortunately, he hasn't re- broken the shoulder, but it is deeply bruised and at this point he only has a limited range of motion. Blake is fairly confident that he should be ready to go by the next round in San Diego." As far as Stewart's return, the team is taking it week by week. The Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha Team is still trying to identify exactly what went wrong with Cooper Webb's bike last week at Oakland. Webb was leading the race when his bike suddenly quit late in the race. He was able to restart it but not until losing a lap. Fingers still point to a vapor lock but they haven't been able to verify it. GEICO Honda's Jordon Smith, who has been struggling with a sore shoulder as of late, was forced to sit out the 250SX main event. "The day started out pretty good," he said, "I think it was my best qualifying of the year with sixth, and all the times were pretty close so I felt good about that. I got a good start in the heat race and made a few passes, found myself in the lead. That was the best I'd felt all year, and then on the last lap I had a really unfortunate crash in the whoops. They were really big and tough this week. That put me out for the rest of the night. It's a bum- mer but we'll be back." 450SX 1. Ken Roczen (Suz) 2. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 3. Eli Tomac (Kaw) 4. Jason Anderson (Hus) 5. Davi Millsaps (KTM) 6. Chad Reed (Yam) 7. Justin Brayton (KTM) 8. Cole Seely (Hon) 9. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 10. Mike Alessi (Suz) 250SX West 1. Christian Craig (Hon) 2. Cooper Webb (Yam) 3. Joey Savatgy (Kaw) 4. Mitchell Oldenburg (KTM) 5. Colt Nichols (Yam) 6. Chris Alldredge (Kaw) 7. Alex Martin (Yam) 8. Kyle Cunningham (Suz) 9. James Decotis (Hon) 10. Kyle Peters (Hon)