Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 5 / FEBRUARY 3, 2018 OAKLAND COLISEUM / OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA P66 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS We didn't qualify good, and quite honestly we didn't get a lot of seat-time in this week, but no excuses, we were able to put ourselves up on the box. Obviously, we always want to win, but looking at the big picture here, to come out of here on the box is the goal. If a win is there, it's something that we need to go for, but Aaron [Plessinger] got away from us there in the begin- ning and from halfway on I kind of found my groove [and] got in a battle with Justin Hill, and we started closing the gap, so all in all we're happy." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 4TH 450SX "It was a good day, overall," said round-winner Marvin Mus- quin. "I was feeling really good in practice, the track was technical and rutted and I got a lot of good laps in. I had great starts in both the heat race and the main event, which was really nice. I was running third in the main event, pretty happy with my riding, and Jason ran me really high in the berm and then I crashed. That was a bummer but I got up pretty quick and was able to pass Seely after he made a mistake. We bat- tled for a couple laps and from that I was running fourth place and basically on my own, there was nothing really I could do at that point. I was looking forward to getting back on the podium tonight and I was feeling good until that crash really slowed me down. But I'm happy with the training I've done this week and the shoulder is feeling a lot better so I'm feeling like myself again and looking ahead into San Diego." 14 COLE SEELY 6TH 450SX Honda HRC's Cole Seely was understandably upset for throw- ing away a possible win. "I'm pretty bummed tonight, but at the same time happy with the progress that I showed," he said. "I felt strong all day. During the main event, I got another great start and was hitting my marks well. I was putting down consis- tent laps but couldn't shake Kenny; he was applying pressure on me the whole time. We came up on lappers and one didn't get out of the main line for a while, which forced me to take another line that I hadn't taken before. That's when I made that big mistake that cost me the lead and even a podium. I got back going in around fourth, but it took me some time to get back into a rhythm and I ended up losing two more spots. It's part of racing and everyone out there was dealing with the same conditions and situations, but it's still unfortunate that lappers play such a huge factor. I know I'm capable of running up front and really want to get a win." 1 JUSTIN HILL 3RD 250SX WEST For the first time this year, AutoTrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki's Justin Hill finished out the night on the podium. "The day was honestly pretty average," he said. "It wasn't like, 'This is going to be the day to end all days.' I felt decent in practice. I didn't do anything spectacular, but everyone was close on time with the last practice. I knew that the track was going to break down and get really difficult, which would work to my advan- tage. I wasn't rushing the track, because if you did then you were going to hit the deck pretty hard. When I came through the first turn in a decent spot it gave me a bit of oxygen to breathe and go to the front-runners. I've been saying the whole time that I want to battle with some guys and cause a ruckus. It was clean racing with Joey [Savatgy], and it put me back into a good mindset. I remember how it feels again. That's the silver lining. It was a third, but a third that could have been a first."

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