WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 11 MARCH 20, 2018 P65
FRENCH FILL-IN
It was only a matter of time before
Thomas Ramette found himself a ride
in the USA. The Frenchman has raced
here a few times as part of the SR75
Suzuki World Team in one-off events,
but it was always in the 450SX class.
In Europe, Ramette has had a lot of
success, including winning the 2015
European Supercross Championship,
the 2017 French Supercross Champi-
onship, and three-peating in the UK
Arenacross Series, winning the title
from 2015 through 2017, but even
with that 450SX success, U.S. teams
always want their imports to start out
in the 250SX class. Even Chad Reed
had to do that back in 2002 after win-
ning Australian SX titles in the premier
class and finishing second in the 2001
MX1 (then 250cc) World Motocross
Championship. Ramette's ticket was
finally pulled after both Colt Nichols
and Dylan Ferrandis were both injured
in the early rounds of the 250SX
East, leaving the Monster Energy/
Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha team
without any healthy racers on that
coast. The Monday after Daytona,
SR75 team owner Geoff Walker ham-
mered out the details for Ramette with
the Star team's Gareth Swanepoel,
according to Dirt Bike Rider in the UK.
By Tuesday, Ramette was on a plane,
and after getting in as much testing
as he could, he showed up ready to
go in St. Louis. Ramette was ninth
during daytime qualifying, and used
a fourth-place finish in his heat race
to transfer to the main event. In the
main, he started just outside the top
five and rode relatively conservatively
to snatch a top-10 in his first-ever AMA
250SX SX race. Ramette is slated to
remain with the team through the end
of the AMA Supercross Series in May,
Briefly...
And in the 250SX East, Zach Osborne
had been bleeding points since his opening-
round win, and Austin Forkner tied him atop
the points standings in Daytona, so Osborne
knew he had to put some points back between
himself and Forkner at the halfway point of the
250SX East. And he did just that, pressuring
Forkner into a mistake and then taking the win,
while Forkner ended up fifth.
450SX
After setting fast time in the final qualifying
session of the day, Tomac (Monster Energy
Kawasaki) struggled in his heat race (finishing
third), but then didn't change anything on his
motorcycle. Instead, he just got the holeshot in
the main event and set sail.
Tomac got the start just in front of points
leader Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna), Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM)
and Broc Tickle (Red Bull KTM), and Malcolm
Eli Tomac
showed once
again that when
he's on, he's on,
and nobody can
beat him.
