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/697689
MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 / JUNE 25, 2016 BLOUNTVILLE, TENNESSEE / MUDDY CREEK RACEWAY P78 The championship lost another one of its stars for a while. Rockstar En- ergy Husqvarna's Jason Anderson, who was running fifth in the 450MX championship, suffered a broken collarbone while practicing earlier in the week. He broke the bone in three places and will be out of action for at least 6-8 weeks. Other 450MX rid- ers out of action right now due to in- juries include defending champ Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard, James Stewart and Josh Grant, who will miss the re- mainder of the series with an ankle injury. Yoshimura Suzuki's was again with- out James Stewart who is recovering from a dislocated shoulder suffered at Hangtown. Rather than push his return, and since his wife is expect- ing their first child, Stewart chose to stay home in Florida rather than make the trip to Tennessee. Filling in for Stewart was, again, Matt Bisceg- lia, who is still seeking a full-time job after losing his ride at the beginning of the outdoor series. He went 14-12 for 12th overall. "I struggled a little more today than the last couple of weeks," he said. "I had a crash in the first turn of the first moto and went from 42nd to 12th. The second moto, I don't know, I got 10th or something. I did everything I could." Stewart has not officially announced when he'll return. It was clear to anyone watching that the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha YZ250Fs of Alex Martin (moto one) and Jeremy Martin (moto two) were losing coolant prior to their ultimate mechanical failure at High Point Raceway for round three of the se- ries. In Tennessee, after the team had time to tear the engines down, they figured out that the bikes lost coolant and compression due to head-gasket failure. The team cred- ited the failure with an aggressive ignition map that contributed to both motorcycles overheating, and said they have made adjustments to their race engines to prevent it from hap- pening again in the future. As mentioned, Monster Energy Ka- wasaki's Josh Grant has opted to have surgery on his ankle (actually both of them) and will forgo the rest of the 2016 outdoor MX Nationals. "The decision to have both ankles operated on at the same time was a tough one," said Grant. "I've been battling this injury for a few years and I want to get it fixed now so that I am ready for the 2017 season. I want to thank the Monster Energy Kawasaki team for the opportunity to race this year." Former Arenacross Champion Tyler Bowers will step in for Grant. "I'm really happy to have the opportu- nity to race the outdoors," said Bow- ers who hasn't raced a full season of MX since 2009. "To be able to do it on the Monster Energy Kawasaki fac- tory KX450F is a dream come true." Bowers will make his debut on the team at RedBud, July 2. "RedBud is my favorite track and I'm looking for- ward to taking full advantage of the opportunity in front of me." Muddy Creek Notes: The 450MX points race is fairly spread out as the series reaches the halfway point: First place Roczen leads Tomac by 47; Tomac leads third place Seely by 45 points; Seely leads Musquin by 15 points, and Musquin leads Tickle by 27 points (Ryan Dungey and Ja- son Anderson are currently between Musquin and Tickle but both are sidelined with injuries). In the 250MX class, leader Savatgy heads Webb by 12 points; Jeremy Martin is third, 20 points behind Webb. Briefly... Matt Bisceglia