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/783081
SUPERCROSS ROUND 5 / FEBRUARY 4, 2017 OAKLAND ALAMEDA COLISEUM / OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA P68 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES plus one lap, while the semis are four minutes plus one lap. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac won his four-minute-plus-1-lap semi with an official time of 5:57.743, because he crossed the line for lap four with just a few seconds left on the clock. He completed six laps in the race. Red Bull KTM's Ryan Dungey was just a bit slower in his semi and got the white flag a lap earlier, leaving him with a time of 5:02.191. Dungey indeed had the faster race time, officially, but completed one less lap. Still, Dungey was awarded the ninth gate pick in the main event, while Tomac got pick number 10. This is something the AMA is going to have to address as the series moves forward. Just days before the race, Dean Wil- son officially found a new home on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Fac- tory Racing Team. Up to that point, Wilson was riding a privateer Yamaha and had little time to prep on the Husky for the Oakland race, but that didn't seem to matter as he cracked the top 10 in the 450SX main. "It's really exciting," Wilson said. "Get- ting the call from [Team Manager] Bobby [Hewitt] was a great moment. I haven't had a good, happy day like that in a long time. I'm definitely a lot more appreciative than I've ever been for a ride. I feel like my training is all good and I plan to keep the same preparation and momentum going. The goal is to stay healthy and try to get in the top 10. I want to remain focused, working hard and making the team proud." And that wasn't the only big news from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team. It announced that Christophe Pourcel, who has been struggling with an injury, will sit out the rest of the supercross series to heal up and focus on the Canadian Nationals, which he'll be competing in this sum- mer, rather than the outdoor AMA National Championship. "I'm very excited about this opportunity, and the ability to take a little more time to recover from my previous neck frac- tures and prepare for racing," Pourcel said. "We have been talking about this transition for quite some time and now is the perfect time. I'm looking forward to my future with Husqvarna and the role I will have with them in their new efforts in Canada." Team Manger Bobby Hewitt added, "Although I'd rather have Christophe racing the remainder of the super- cross season, I'm excited about the future for him and our program in Canada…though those plans were to begin in 2018." Geico Honda's Jimmy Decotis enjoyed a career-best fourth in the 250SX class. "I started eighth or ninth around the first corner and there was that big pileup," said Decotis. "I came around the triple and I was in fourth. I don't know how that happened. I ended up getting by Shane [McElrath] in the whoops and actually rode good for the first eight minutes, but I missed a rhythm and made a couple mistakes and Shane ended up getting back by me. Toward the end I reeled him back in and was thinking: podium! It's some- thing I've never gotten in my career and I'm getting better every week and it was my time to get it. I made a run on the last lap in the whoops but he kind of inched me out a little bit into the lappers. It was hard out there with the lappers; it was a tough track. The harder you pushed the worse it was. I felt like I was just trail riding out there. It was still tiring even though I felt like I wasn't pushing that hard. Fourth isn't where I want to be, I want to get on the podium. It's something I want to experience. I want to get up there and stay up there. Tonight I was really close, but just missed it." Oakland Supercross Notes: Sev- eral riders nearly crashed while riding over a bare section of plywood on the track (which put Aaron Plessinger and Justin Hill on the ground). Phil Nicolietti Tweeted: "I think everyone hit that piece of plywood for about 6 laps in a row. Thing was like hitting an ice patch!"... Many of the racers said that the Oakland track was extremely difficult with the muddy conditions and ruts. Mike Alessi said that it was "…one of the toughest tracks I have ridden in my entire career."… Austin Forkner suffered a hard crash in the 250SX main and did not finish. He'll be okay, though, and plans to race next week in Texas. Briefly... cont. on p.70