Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 16 / APRIL 28, 2018 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH / RICE-ECCLES STADIUM P74 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS iii My Own Race: 32 CHRISTIAN CRAIG 4TH 450SX "The whole day I was a little frustrated because I kept making little mistakes in practice and had to regroup for the night show," said Christian Craig (Honda HRC). "I went out there and had a good heat and in the main, I just kind of winged it off the start and I'm like, 'I'm going to get a good start and stay up there with these guys.' And that's exactly what I did. I latched on to those top two and put in the laps. It was a long 20 minutes on this track. I'm happy with how I rode and felt good doing it. It was tough out there with all of the marbles, rocks, it was sketchy. It was slippery and had some ruts, and it had two sets of crazy whoops, and that made it for an interesting main. You had to be consistent and put in some good laps." 10 JUSTIN BRAYTON 6TH 450SX "All day I kind of struggled," admitted Justin Brayton. "The whoops were big and steep and just didn't have my speed, really, through practice and even through the heat race. But I felt good about turning my night around in the main, getting a good start and putting myself in a good position, and my speed was solid. To end up sixth is not my best result but with how the day was going, I'm pretty proud to have put myself in a good position and get some speed there in the main event." 34 WESTON PEICK 7TH 450SX Southern Californian Weston Peick (Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki) shined in the dry conditions and on the hard-pack track. He was third quickest in qualify- ing and won his heat race, which included Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac. "It was the same kind of deal as last weekend," said Weston Peick. "I felt good all day. I went into the main event expecting to be on the podium. The start wasn't there again. I got antsy. I didn't leave too late, but had a bit of wheel-spin in the dirt and got tangled up in the first turn. From there I had to play catch up. With the track being so slick and difficult, it was hard to make up time. I settled in and finished seventh. It wasn't the best weekend, but I had some speed. I am putting the pieces together." 55 VINCE FRIESE 9TH 450SX Vince Friese enjoyed his best race of the year. Friese led his heat race for a moment and got off to a third-place start in the main. However, he slipped back to ninth by the time it was all over but it was his best finish this season. "It was brutal out there," Friese said. "I struggled all day. The whoops aren't usually my thing but I got through them, and in the main event I found the flow. I got a great start even though I didn't have the best gate pick, and the bike worked well for me today. I just kind of hung in there. I've been so close to the top 10 so many times; I've gotten one this year [San Diego] but had so many that I should've gotten it because of little things, mistakes, things like that. It was a good night; I should have nights like that every weekend. I'm riding bet- ter than I ever have." 21 JASON ANDERSON 17TH 450SX Jason Anderson was understandably disappointed after the race and was unavail- able for comment but did sum up what had happened. "I was pretty good in prac- tice all day," said Anderson. "I had a solid heat race and qualified well. I just went down in the first turn in the main and had to go all the way around the track. I broke some spokes in the first turn and had to come into the mechanics area to get my front wheel changed. By that time I was two laps down. I was able to un-lap myself and get up to 17th and at least get some points."

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