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/936927
CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 55 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 6, 2018 P55 happening, you can't even remember what exactly hap- pened," Roczen said of the last few laps. "It got sketchy and dangerous out there, but that was just part of the track and part of racing." With the win, Anderson extends his points lead to 15 points over Roczen with 12 races left to run. TRICKY TRICKY There's an ongoing debate between whether it's difficulty (making racers more likely to fall) or the high speed of an easier track (making racers more likely to be hurt if they fall) that delivers a higher likelihood of injuring racers, so when it comes to determining the amount of track maintenance that should be per- formed, it's not always a black-or- white issue. However, with the soft dirt in Oakland leading to some very demanding rhythm sections, Feld Motorsports, along with the Dirt Wurx crew, opted to try and smooth out the tricky rutted areas as often as the race schedule would allow. Still, by the end of the 450SX main event, the best supercross racers in the world, battling it out at the front of the field, struggled to put in a single clean lap. The end result was some great racing between Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen in the final laps of the race, but it's some- thing the track builders, and racers, hope to avoid if at all possible in the coming weeks. TAKEOUTS With both Husqvarna and KTM under the same general brand-um- brella, and with the Baker's Factory training facility (named for trainer Aldon Baker) named the exclusive training facility for the KTM/Husky factory race teams, it's not much of a stretch to call Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason Anderson and Red Bull KTM's Marvin Musquin "teammates." But at the very least, they're longtime training partners, as they have trained and practiced together for years. But Anderson made it clear in Oakland that he's much more interested in winning than he is about being nice to his friend. Anderson surprised Musquin with an inside move near the halfway point in the main event and clipped Musquin's front wheel, sending him to the dirt. Musquin got up to finish fourth, and Ander- son, at least, was able to vindicate himself by winning the Oakland main event, showing that the move wasn't without payoff. And Justin Barcia made a similar move early in the 450SX main event on Eli Tomac to put Tomac on the ground in the turn before the finish line. Tomac struggled to recover from it, as the crash put him at the back of the pack and he was only able to work his way back to 13th by the end of the main. Barcia, who was the fastest qualifier during the day and won his heat race, had his charge forward stall out in fifth place, where he finished. THE FINAL COUNTDOWN Husqvarna privateer Chad Reed is now two main events away from tying the record for all-time main- event starts with Mike LaRocco. After winning the LCQ to move himself into the main event, Reed collected his 226th career main- event start in the premier class. If Reed can continue to put himself in the mains, despite his ankle injury, he will tie LaRocco's record at the Arlington Supercross, and then officially break it in Tampa at round eight of the 17-round championship series. And if Reed can manage to make every main on the year, he will end the 2018 series with a total of 238 main events. Briefly... Roczen and Anderson congratulate each other after a great race.