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/671116
SUPERCROSS ROUND 15 / APRIL 23, 2016 GILLETTE STADIUM / FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS P62 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES The Foxborough round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series was the first supercross race in New England since 1990 and the first ever at Gillette Sta- dium, the home of the NFL's New England Patriots. It was also the second straight day race of the se- ries. The massive stadium allowed for a fairly lengthy track layout, which saw lap times in the 1:20 range in the wet conditions, after light rain fell early in the morning. As a result, the first non-timed practice session was canceled. Clouds soon gave way to sunshine and as the track dried, lap times significantly dropped all the way down to the one-minute mark by the end of the night. The rain, how- ever, left the damp track with mas- sive ruts throughout, and by the time the main event came around, the course offered a little bit of every- thing, from great traction to nearly no traction in some spots. Plus, there were multiple lines for passing. The official crowd count was 38,733. It was another quiet event for the Yoshimura Suzuki Team. Earlier in the week, the team announced that James Stewart is going to sit out the remaining few rounds of the supercross series to give his bruised body a chance to heal and to start focusing 100 percent on the upcom- ing outdoor nations. Blake Baggett, the team's other rider, had a misera- ble a day, though it started out prom- ising when he qualifying a respect- able seventh. But in his heat race, Baggett finished one spot out of a transfer position and had to ride the semi where the wheels really came off the wagon. He got taken out when a rider ahead of him crashed in the whoops and had nowhere to go but into his crashing motorcycle and went flying over the handlebars. In the LCQ, he went down with a couple of other riders in the first turn and was left without a footpeg, put- ting a disappointing end to his night. There was an ugly crash in the main that included three riders: Justin Barcia, Broc Tickle and Jake Weimer, who go the worst of when he got run over by another rider who didn't go down. It was scary looking but Weimer later said that he is okay, just very sore. A couple of notable no-shows in- cluded Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Christophe Pourcel and CycleTrad- er.com/Rock River Yamaha's Tom- my Hahn. Pourcel chose not to ride, opting to let injuries suffered at the Indy Supercross three weeks ago heal up. He did race last week at St. Louis but wasn't close to being 100 percent. Hahn said that he's going to sit out the last three rounds due to a broken thumb. For the third straight race, Monster Energy/360Fly, Chaparral Yamaha's Chad Reed failed to finish in the top five in the 450SX main event. In the last three races he's gone 6-6-9, and a bad start in the main severely hurt his chances of a top finish. He was 12th after the first lap and struggled to make passes, later saying he had a few issues in the main. One of those issues might've been Weston Peick who he was battling at the end. Reed finished right on Peick's rear fender. Barring any disasters, Reed is poised to finish out the year fifth in the championship. Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin hasn't been the same since re-ag- gravating a wrist at the Santa Clara round five weeks ago. After four straight podium finishes (three of those being second places), Mus- quin as gone 17-DNS-15-10. Musquin showed moments of promise at Fox- borough but small mistakes through out the program held him back. He is currently 21 points out of fifth (trailing Reed) in the championship and is 12 points ahead of Seely. 450SX 1. Ken Roczen (Suz) 2. Eli Tomac (Kaw) 3. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 4. Jason Anderson (Hus) 5. Trey Canard (Hon) 6. Justin Bogle (Hon) 7. Cole Seely (Hon) 8. Weston Peick (Yam) 9. Chad Reed (Yam) 10. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 250SX EAST 1. Martin Davalos (Hus) 2. Jeremy Martin (Yam) 3. Malcolm Stewart (Hon) 4. Shane McElrath (KTM) 5. Aaron Plessinger (Yam) 6. Tyler Bowers (Kaw) 7. Gannon Audette (Kaw) 8. RJ Hampshire (Hon) 9. Anthony Rodriguez (Kaw) 10. Luke Renzland (Yam) Briefly...