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/804174
SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES ROUND 12 / MARCH 26, 2017 FORD FIELD / DETROIT, MICHIGAN P80 15 DEAN WILSON 9TH 450SX Dean Wilson broke into the top 10 after finishing 13th at Daytona and 11th at India- napolis. "I was top five in qualifying, so that was good," said Wilson. "I got a good start in my heat race, which I was happy about. I was battling with Brayton, which slowed me down a bit and caused me to lose some positions. I went into the semi and got third and got into the main. I just barely saved the first corner pileup in the main. I got hit really hard and I barely stayed on two wheels. I made some quick passes then just stayed there and rode a steady and consistent race. This is my third year in the class but it's almost like a rookie year since I've never done a full season. It's good for me to just keep racing the mains and get top-10 finishes. I'm just trying to be better every weekend." 48 CHRISTIAN CRAIG 7TH 250SX Despite his run-in with Alex Martin and having last gate pick in the main, Christian Craig had the best result of his season. "As everyone knows, I had a practice inci- dent with Alex Martin [see Briefly]. I let my frustrations get the best of me in the heat of the moment. I could sit here and explain my side of the story but I'll still end up in the wrong so I won't," said Craig who did apologize to Martin. "Anyway, I got penal- ized and fined by the AMA. No matter what I got in my heat I would have last gate pick for the main. Going into the main I obviously knew I was going to be last pick so I took the outside gate and was just going to go for it. I actually got a really good start but was caught in a first-turn pile up. I would have for sure gotten a top five start if that [the crash] hadn't happened. I started in 18th and made my way to seventh. With one more lap I could have gotten the two guys in front of me but I was just happy to see myself fight again. This season has been rough and it sucks it's taken me this many rounds to find myself again." 20 BROC TICKLE 7TH 450SX RCH Suzuki's Broc Tickle was the fastest qualifier of the day in the 450SX class, but he couldn't parlay that into a podium in the main. "I knew I needed a good start in the main event and I came out sixth," Tickle said. "I got passed in the whoop section on the first lap and ended up com- ing around sixth or seventh. I rode there for a long time. All in all, it was a good weekend. I felt like I could have made a pass in maybe a couple of places and then we kind of spread out a little bit. Dungey got around me and then with a couple laps to go [Jason] Anderson got around me so I ended up seventh. I didn't really feel like I was riding up to my full potential in the main event and still came away with a seventh-place finish." Geico Honda's Christian Craig has had a really rough go of it so far in 2017, and his frustrations boiled over in timed practice. Craig got upset that one of his fast lap times was interrupted, and the end result was that he T- boned TLD/Red Bull KTM's Alex Martin so hard that Martin went flying off the track, crashing hard. Craig was fined and penal- ized by the AMA, forced to take the last gate pick in the main event despite winning his heat race, and issued an apology via his Instagram account that read: "I want to apologize to Alex for what happened in practice. My intentions are never to make someone crash. I was frustrated that my fastest lap was getting interrupted. He had rolled the whoops on the same lap, so I figured he would get out of the way since he was on a slow lap. That doesn't justify what hap- pened but I am sorry and I have been fined and penalized for my actions on the track." Martin was forced to sit out the race report- edly with a concussion. Smartop/Motoconcepts Honda teammates Vince Friese and Mike Alessi had a scary mo- ment that came in the first 450SX semi. Friese was leading Alessi over a jump, and Alessi drifted over and his front wheel landed on Friese's back. Amaz- ingly, neither rider went down, though Friese did run off the track. Briefly...