Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 7 / FEBRUARY 18, 2017 US BANK STADIUM / MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA P58 the podium in the main event is pretty good, so I'm happy with it. Am I completely satisfied? No. I want to win one of these things and be in the hunt for this title. But we're not down a whole lot of points and we're leaving here safe and healthy." Then came Geico Honda's RJ Hampshire, Savatgy's teammate Adam Cianciarulo, French new- comer Dylan Ferrandis, and the rest of the field. Nichols eventu- ally finished a solid 10th after his opening-lap fall, while heat-race winner Christian Craig struggled to a disappointing 12th place. CN 450SX 1. Eli Tomac (Kaw) 2. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 3. Ryan Dungey (KTM) 4. Jason Anderson (Hus) 5. Cole Seely (Hon) 6. Davi Millsaps (KTM) 7. Broc Tickle (Suz) 8. Trey Canard (KTM) 9. Blake Baggett (KTM) 10. Mike Alessi (Hon) 250SX EAST 1. Joey Savatgy (Kaw) 2. Jordon Smith (KTM) 3. Zach Osborne (Hus) 4. RJ Hampshire (Hon) 5. Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) 6. Dylan Ferrandis (Yam) 7. Anthony Rodriguez (Yam) 8. Luke Renzland (Yam) 9. Kyle Peters (Suz) 10. Colt Nichols (Yam) MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES It's hard to say if 2017 has been rougher on the racers than past years, because it always seems like half of the top racers are gone by the halfway point in the series. That said, there were a few pretty big losses in Minneapolis. First, there was Yamaha's young phe- nom Cooper Webb. Webb was really starting to make a race of it in his rookie 450cc season, win- ning heat races and snatching his first podium in Oakland. In Texas a week ago, he was running in a po- dium position when he suffered a flat rear tire, but he was in the mix up front yet again. In Minneapo- lis, Webb qualified seventh during the day, only a quarter-second off of Marvin Musquin in second, but became a victim of circumstance off the start of his heat race, when his left handlebar was clipped by Dean Wilson through the first few jumps, sending Webb down to the dirt violently onto his left shoulder. He got up but was noticeably fa- voring the shoulder as he walked back to the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Unit and was out for the night. No official word has been given from the Yamaha camp re- garding his condition. Minneapolis also went poorly for RCH Suzuki's Justin Bogle. Bo- gle went down hard in his semi, by himself, and landed violently on his right hip/pelvis/lower back. He was up quickly, but was out for the night. He should be back in Atlanta next weekend, though. "I came up short in that rhythm sec- tion, went over the bars, and that was the end of my night," Bogle said. "We were having a good day and I felt good on the bike. I just missed my mark through that section and it bit me. I went to the hospital and everything checked out fine. I'm just sore. We'll be ready for Atlanta on Saturday." One surprise return to action, at least this early, was Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha's Colt Nichols. Nichols suffered a broken femur in mid-November of 2016 while testing with his new team. That's normally a six-month injury, and Nichols is not only riding again, but he showed up to race in Min- neapolis barely over three months after sustaining the injury. Despite coming back so early from such a major injury, Nichols managed to qualify fifth during daytime quali- fying, then qualified for the main event with fifth place in his heat race. He grabbed a good start in the main, battling it out for sec- ond with KTM privateer Dakota Alix when the two tangled rear wheels in midair and both went down spectacularly. Alix called it a night, and Nichols got up in 20th place and fought his way back up to finish 10th on the night, on the lead lap. Benny Bloss (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC WPS KTM) suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 250SX main. Bloss was running ninth when he went down in the whoops on the 12th lap. It is not yet known when he might return to action. Briefly... cont. on page 60

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