Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY CUP MONSTER ENERGY CUP / OCTOBER 14, 2017 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA / MONSTER ENERGY CUP P70 The 1-2 score gave Reyn- olds the overall despite his troubles. "It feels great," Reynolds said. "This event is so fun, and this is like the biggest stadium around, so it was awesome to race in front of the fans. They're so loud." Kessler's moto-two win was a fantastic performance, fighting off all comers for the whole moto, even though he only managed 12th place in the first outing. "It feels so amazing," Kessler said. "I'm so thank- ful to be up here. I had a rough one the first one. Got off to a pretty bad start. Just couldn't make passes. I was pretty bummed. I have a lot of people watching and felt bad to let them down, so I just told myself I've just got to come out here and win the last one. Had a lot of pressure on me. Just tried to stay smooth and ride my own race." CN 1. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 1-1-1 2. Jason Anderson (Hus) 2-2-2 3. Dean Wilson (Hus) 3-5-3 4. Broc Tickle (KTM) 4-3-4 5. Jordon Smith (KTM) 5-4-6 6. Justin Barcia (Hon) 10-6-5 7. Josh Grant (Kaw) 6-7-8 8. Benny Bloss (KTM) 7-8-7 9. Vince Friese (Hon) 8-10-10 10. Tyler Bowers (Yam) 12-9-9 Former MX World Champion Tim Gajser made his supercross debut at the MEC. The Slovenian brought his factory Honda crew with and worked out of the U.S. factory Honda pits. He only had two days of supercross practice and testing before the race but still qualified sixth on race day. Unfortunately, Gajser crashed in the first race and was too shaken up to continue. His night was over. "I really like supercross but I just think I need more practice," Gajser said. "It's very different from what I'm used to. I was having fun all day and during the race before my crash. I'm very sore but thankfully nothing is broken, so I'm able to go home pretty healthy. I think this was a good start and positive learning opportunity, so hopefully I can come back and race again." "I think this was a good taste for Tim of what supercross is about," said Erik Kehoe who is back manager the HRC Honda Team again. "This is pretty intense and a completely different style of racing for him, so I think with the small amount of time he had in preparation for it, he did a really good job. The main thing is he's going home healthy and not injured, so it'll be interesting to see if he decides to come back and race again." Justin Barcia came to the Monster Energy Cup with a privateer Honda and a desire to have fun, which he says is something he's been lacking for most of the last couple of years. "It's been rough the past couple years, being hurt, and having the pressure of needing to return early to represent your team's sponsors, and things like that," Barcia said. "It's nice to be at the races and be able to just race, like I used to. This sport is rough and it can beat you down sometimes, but I'm out here to have some fun this weekend." Barcia's results got better throughout the night, as he went 10-6-5 for sixth overall, and each time he was on the track, he was closer to the leaders. Barcia said he was hoping to land Broc Tickle's ride at Red Bull KTM, and after that fell through he put the Honda deal together, only for Yamaha to offer him Davi Millsaps' new ride for the Monster Cup. He had to turn Yamaha down, as he had already com- mitted to his privateer Honda effort for the event. A few weeks prior to the Monster Energy Cup, Davi Millsaps was an- nounced to be the newest member of the Monster Energy/ Yamalube/ Chaparral Yamaha team to race alongside Cooper Webb, but just prior to the event, Millsaps had a big crash while practicing and did serious damage to his elbow. But from what we could gather at the Monster Cup, Millsaps' biggest problem right now might actually be his head, as he was knocked out for a while in his crash and his head is reportedly not stable enough for the doctors to do surgery on his arm yet. Webb attended the race but did not ride, as he is recover- ing from injury from a fall at the U.S. GP in Florida. Depending on the timeline of Millsaps recovery, Barcia still might end up riding for Yamaha at the start of the 2018 season. Last time Barcia was on Yamahas, in 2016, he put the YZ450F on the box a bunch of times toward the end of the AMA Nationals. The Monster Energy Cup did seem a little bit down on talent, but it's mostly just due to the regular attrition of the sport. Although there was a lot of top talent out on the track, on the sidelines with injuries were: Jake Weimer, Cooper Webb, Davi Millsaps, Cole Seely, Ken Roczen and Weston Peick, to name a few. Briefly...