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/646962
SUPERCROSS ROUND 8 / FEBRUARY 27, 2016 GEORGIA DOME / ATLANTA, GEORGIA P52 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Briefly... And what happened to RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John's Suzuki's Ken Roczen who beat Ryan Dungey straight up the week before at the Dal- las Supercross? He was the victim of a terrible start in the 450SX main. He won his heat race, but just barely, over Cole Seely, then got bounced around in the first turn of the main. "That's what cost us," said co-team manager Carey Hart. Roczen was 16th after the first place and then rode well to get into sixth before it was all over. He is now 33 points behind Dungey's 191 total. Jason Anderson is third with 145 and everyone else is more than two races behind Dungey, including Seely with 134, just two ahead of Reed. Never one to hold back on how he feels, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki Team Manager Mitch Pay- ton commented on his 250SX West team's bad luck. "I think Joey [Savatgy] was riding really good, just awesome. Christian Craig made a bad move and that hurt us. Chris Alldredge was riding better, but he still has to get it done. I'm pumped with Joey and he had turned it around on Webb. I think he has the speed to beat Cooper and he can beat him, but he just got screwed at the last race. It was sad…but, what- ever, we have to live with it. East coast, first night, we didn't do good. [Arnaud] Tonus was down two times in the whoops in the heat. He ran into a bike two times, so that put him in the LCQ. He won the LCQ, then went into the main and fell down in the sand. Then Bowers had a not-very-good start, went from fourth to third and then he said his arms pumped up and he was done. It was not cool." In one of the more horrific crashes this year, Phil Nicoletti collided with Andrew Short in midair dur- ing the second 450SX heat, sending Short over the high side and turning his KTM into a rider-less missile that took Wil Hahn's Kawasaki out from under him in midair. All three riders were done for the night. Cole Seely and Jason Anderson took their magnetic attraction for each other to a new level that did not go unnoticed by AMA Referee John Gallagher. "Anderson brake-checked Seely in front of the mechanic's area and Seely tried to duck underneath and dump the clutch but hadn't quite cleared his back tire and bumped into the back of him, knocking them both down," Gallagher explained. "Ander- son, I'm sure, looked at that, like, 'Oh really,' resulting in some tit-for-tat, un- til Anderson finally cleaned him out." In a star-studded halftime show, Danica Patrick held the 30-second board for fellow NASCAR competi- tors Greg Biffle, Ty Dillon, Clint Bowyer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., as Jimmie Johnson dropped the gate on the NASCAR Holeshot Challenge. Biffle shot out of the gate, but it was Bowyer, brother of Race Day LIVE! Supercross announcer, Andy, who won the drag race to the first turn. Clint, a former amateur mo- tocross racer, would not be denied as he kept it his KX pinned so long that everyone in the stadium knew there was no way he could slow down in time to avoid crashing. He did not dis- appoint, locking up the rear and fish- tailing, then high-siding into the Tuff Blocks in front of the wall outside the track. Clint bounced to his feet and did some victory poses. Roger DeCoster was feeling some serious company pride, and who could blame him? "It was an awe- some night, four KTMs in the top five," he said. "I don't think that's ever hap- pened. A Husky won the 250 and, in the two classes, we had seven bikes in the top 10. I think I have to go and say thanks to the big guy upstairs! Marvin was pissed off, of course, and that was too bad. I wish James Stewart would have just moved out of the way and let them race, you know. This should give Marvin a lot of con- fidence. He was upset and bummed out, but I told him, hey, you can do 19 laps, you should be able to do 20." Darryn Durham returned to rac- ing after what seemed like forever. He looked like he hardly lost a step, battling near the front all night, taking a privateer Yamaha to fourth in his 250SX heat and seventh in the main. 450SX MAIN 1. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 2. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 3. Chad Reed (Yam) 4. Davi Millsaps (KTM) 5. Justin Brayton (KTM) 6. Ken Roczen (Suz) 7. Jason Anderson (Hus) 8. Justin Bogle (Hon) 9. Christophe Pourcel (Hus) 10. Cole Seely (Hon) 250SX EAST MAIN 1. Martin Davalos (Hus) 2. Malcolm Stewart (Hon) 3. Aaron Plessinger (Yam) 4. Jeremy Martin (Yam) 5. Justin Hill (KTM) 6. RJ Hampshire (Hon) 7. Darryn Durham (Yam) 8. Tyler Bowers (Kaw) 9. Alexander Frye (KTM) 10. Jimmy Albertson (Suz)