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/650535
VOL. 53 ISSUE 9 MARCH 8, 2016 P59 My Own Race: 36 JUSTIN HILL 2 ND 250SX Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM's Justin Hill was on his game in Daytona. After coming from behind to catch and pres- sure eventual winner Jeremy Martin and early leader Mal- colm Stewart as they battled for the lead, Hill ended up second in the main and now sits fourth in points, only seven points behind the leader. "I felt really good all day, and think I could have had a chance for the win if I would have grabbed a better start," Hill said. "It's really awesome to feel this good and be right there in the championship battle." 49 MARTIN DAVALOS 3 RD 250SX Martin Davalos, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna 250SX East points leader, was solid on the rough and rutted Daytona track. He ran fourth for much of the race, then inherited third when Malcolm Stewart stalled with a couple turns to go in the race. He still leads the points, by two, going into round three of his series in Toronto. "Daytona is more of an outdoor race," said Davalos. "So there's always a lot of fast guys that show up. I was confident throughout the day, and I felt good. The bike setup was awesome. I'm mostly just trying to stick to my own race, and I think that's working for me. I was there the entire 15 laps, and put in a hard charge for the final two to salvage third. It's a long championship, and I just have to give my best every weekend." 50 MALCOLM STEWART 4 TH 250SX Malcolm Stewart was under- standably disappointed after the race. He led the first 12 of 15 laps before giving way to Jeremy Martin and Justin Hill, but all was not lost because he was still assured a podium finish as a decent consola- tion prize. But he stalled his bike with a couple of turns to go, handing third to Martin Davalos. Stewart took the checkers in fourth. "I had a really good day going into Daytona," said Stewart. "I felt good and qualified third in practice. Got second in the heat and almost got RJ on the last lap. In the main, I led most of the laps but I got tight. Pretty bummed about the main but I have a lot of races to look forward to and I'm looking forward to being on top! Only down five points with seven races to go so I'm not worried." 31 RJ HAMPSHIRE 7 TH 250SX For the second year in a row, GEICO Honda's RJ Hampshire won a qualifying heat race in front of his home fans, and he was hoping to back it up with a strong ride in the main. "I felt good all day," he said. "I had a de- cent practice time and then a good heat race getting my first win of the season. Was feeling great coming into the main, but I didn't get a good start and then on lap three or four I cased a jump and blew my hand off the handlebars. I was in survival mode from there, riding in a lot of pain, so I tightened up. I'm certainly not happy with seventh but looking to bounce back next weekend in Toronto." 21 JASON ANDERSON 4 TH 450SX Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason Anderson started near the front, then moved into fourth place early on, albeit a bit too far back to battle with anyone in the top three. "I got a great start in the main," said Anderson. "I found my way into fourth place and then was just by myself for the rest of the race. I got caught behind a lapper for five laps. Also, Pourcel's crash in the beginning of the race tripped me up a little and put way too much of a gap between me and the top-three guys, which made it hard to even get close enough to battle them." 94 KEN ROCZEN 5 TH 450SX RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John's Suzuki's Ken Roczen had a disappointing night. After his big win in Texas, he's been unable to battle for the win at Atlanta and now Daytona. "Definitely not what we were expecting," Roczen said. "I didn't get the best jump. I actually got pretty lucky in the first turn but I couldn't do the triple because I didn't think the person in front of me was going to do the jump, so I ended up not jumping. The track was tough so it was hard to pass. By the time I had a clear track, there was a big gap to the front that I tried to close but I just ran out of time. We're going to work on the bike a little bit this week to try and get it better. Other than that, I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing. I felt really good fitness- wise. I'm not too satisfied with a fifth-place finish so I'm hoping for better results next week in Toronto."