WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 53 ISSUE 15 APRIL 19, 2016 P55
49 MARTIN DAVALOS 15
TH
250SX
Martin Davalos rode much better than his 15th place would
suggest. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider went down in
the first turn in the pileup and rounded the first lap dead last.
He fought his way back up to ninth and was eying a top-five fin-
ish when he went down again, dropping to 17th. The opening-
round winner of the series ended up a disappointing 15th. "To-
day was going okay," said Davalos. "I rode pretty good in my
heat race by the end and had a good gate pick for the main.
The main event just started bad and it was hard to recover. I
never rode how I know I can after that first-turn crash and that
was frustrating." Davalos is currently fourth in the champion-
ship, 16 points behind Martin.
4 BLAKE BAGGETT 12
TH
450SX
It was not a good night for Yoshimura Suzuki's Blake Baggett who
was coming off one of his best rides the week before when he
placed fifth in the main. In St. Louis, in his heat, he got collected
in a second-turn crash with Justin Barcia then fell in his semi. He
got into the main via a second place in the LCQ. He had a near-
last gate pick which cost him in the main. "It definitely wasn't the
night we were looking for," Baggett said. "It was a little bit rough,
but we salvaged a 12th in the main event. I came from gate block
20, way outside and didn't get a good jump and was buried back
there and it was chaos. It was just one of those nights."
61 GANNON AUDETTE 5
TH
250SX
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki fill-in rider continues
to impress his new boss, team manger Mitch Payton, by
finishing a strong fifth in St. Louis. He got on the podium last
week in Indy. "It was another good weekend," said Audette.
"We made progress in practice and went into the night show
eighth fastest. I learned a bit more in my heat where I finished
fourth. In the main I had another great start in second until a
rider passed me and then almost immediately stalled in my
line. While avoiding him, I caught a Tuff Block and ended up
with a minor tip-over. From there I just tried to put my laps
together and came home with a fifth. Overall I feel it was a
good weekend, not quite the podium I wanted but it's hard to
complain about a top-five."
53 TYLER BOWERS 9
TH
250SX
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Tyler Bowers was one
of the many unlucky riders who got caught up in a first-turn
pileup in the 250SX East main event, but he made the best of
it and finished ninth. "My weekend started pretty good," said
Bowers. "Early in the day I was in the top three, my Kawasaki
felt really good, and I sorted out a few minor issues in my heat.
The big pileup in the first turn of the main completely stopped
me and straight off I knew I had my work cut out for me. I put
my head down and started clicking off passes. Unfortunately
the hard push at the beginning of the race gave me arm pump
towards the end and I wasn't able to finish where I feel I belong.
Time to put it behind us and look towards next weekend."
