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/786372
SUPERCROSS ROUND 6 / FEBRUARY 11, 2017 AT&T STADIUM / ARLINGTON, TEXAS P58 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Just like last week's Oakland Su- percross, the Arlington Supercross was run in the daytime. In Texas, the races started at 4 p.m. local time, but the broadcast on FS1 was tape-delayed five hours. While much of the race may have gone the same regardless of the time of day, the one big issue throughout the day was the sun, which beamed through the stadium windows and made seeing difficult on the racers, especially during the qualifiers. The higher daytime temperatures may also have contributed to the very dry and slick track conditions, which became even more treacherous with the sheer number of laps put on the circuit in the new timed racing format. It's rare to see a factory racer have any sort of mechanical issues nowadays, especially during the main events. However, the Arlington Supercross was replete with them. First, in the 250cc main event, race leader Shane McElrath suffered a mechanical that appeared to be engine or transmission-related 15 laps into the 20-lap main event, dropping him to last place in the final order. He came in to Texas only one point behind friendly rival Justin Hill and left trailing by a full 25 with only three races left to run. Then, in the 450cc main event, the gremlins re- ally came on strong. First, Yamaha's Cooper Webb, who was running second at the time, was forced to pull off the track with a flat rear tire. His team changed it as quickly as possible before he got back into the fray. He ended up finishing 14th. Then came points contender, and winner of the last two 450cc main events, Eli Tomac, who washed out the front end landing from a triple and came into the mechanic's area with a front-brake malfunction (most likely a bent rotor) of some sort that led to his team cutting his brake line so he could finish an eventual 15th place without a front brake. Even Webb's teammate Chad Reed was forced into the pits with a flat tire after working his way up to ninth following a terrible start. There's no update on Reed's specific mechani- cal issue at this point, but it was enough to sideline him for a few laps before he returned to action, eventually finishing 18th on the day. Privateer Colton Aeck suffered serious injuries in a 450SX heat race when another rider landed on him. Luckily, it appears that Aeck will make a full recovery. He posted on his Instagram account, Mon- day, February 13: Just wanted to give everyone an update and let them know how I'm doing. Had a brutal crash where I got landed on last night in Arlington. I ended up breaking 2 vertebrae, a few ribs and my shoulder. For about the first hour after my crash I had zero feeling from the waist down, I'm slowly getting some feeling back and am expected to make a full recovery. Going in for surgery tomorrow to have rods put in my back. I want to send a huge thank you to everyone for all the love and prayers. You guys are awe- some! I'll be trying to catch up on all my texts and missed calls in the next few days. I'm in pretty rough shape, but extremely grateful it wasn't worse. The lord was defi- nitely watching after me last night. #glorytogod JGR Suzuki's Phil Nicoletti suffered a dislocated ankle during Thursday's media event at the stadium and did not compete; he is expected to undergo surgery and will be side- lined indefinitely. The team's Justin Barcia and Weston Peick have also been out with injury, including Matt Bisceglia, who has been sidelined before the season even started. The team earlier this week announced that Kyle Peters will be stepping in to help out the team. He will compete in the early round of the 250SX East Championship, which gets under- way, February 16, in Minneapolis. Briefly...