SUPERCROSS DAYTONA 2018 – Commenti del podio!

Scritto lunedì 12 Marzo 2018 alle 21:31.

Honda enjoyed a dream night at the prestigious Daytona Supercross, where Smartop/Bullfrog Spa MotoConcepts rider Justin Brayton scored the dramatic victory, while Team Honda HRC fill-in rider Christian Craig notched a career-best 450SX result of fourth. The two CRF450R racers also each won a heat race.

Craig and Brayton started the main event in first and second, respectively, and Brayton soon took over the lead. He briefly lost the top spot on lap four but was able to return to the front and ride unchallenged for the rest of the race, earning the first AMA Supercross win of his career. Brayton, who turns 34 on Wednesday, is the oldest rider to win a main event. With his victory, he moves into third in the series standings. Craig continued to ride impressively after being passed by Brayton, alternating between second and third for most of the 20-minute-plus-one-lap race before slipping to fourth with just a few minutes left.

Christian Craig 32

“I had a great week testing with the team. They came down to Florida right after last weekend and I feel like we really improved. Just getting more time on the bike and getting more comfortable was huge. I started off race day feeling really good. My qualifying position didn’t really show it, but overall I was happy with my riding. It’s all about having fun out there, and man, that’s what I did tonight. I was up front in the heat race, fell to third, but then the two guys in front took each other out so I ended up winning. You can call it luck or whatever, but I just put myself in a good position to capitalize on people’s mistakes. I had a good gate pick and some confidence going into the main. I grabbed the holeshot and led for almost the first lap, but [Justin] Brayton got by me pretty quick. I stayed second for quite a while. I just rode my hardest and did my best. Unfortunately, a couple guys got by me in the end so I ended up fourth. The track was so tough. This is only my second time racing Daytona and last year didn’t go well, so I really wanted to get some revenge this year. It’s better than the week before, but man, I was so close to a podium. I just need to keep putting myself in good positions and work on getting better each weekend.”

 
 

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“Christian is doing exactly what we had hoped. He’s consistent, his starts are really good, and he’s improving and getting more comfortable with the bike each week. He rode really well tonight. To get a heat-race win and ride to fourth in the main is awesome. I know he wanted a podium, but he should be really proud of that result. Congratulations as well to Justin Brayton and the entire MotoConcepts team. It was great to see a Honda on the top step of the podium, and they definitely earned it.”

 

Oscar Wirdeman

Mechanic (Ken Roczen)

“I think Christian did great tonight. It was a crazy day with top contenders crashing and getting bad starts, but Christian got another great start and put himself in a good position from the beginning. I think he slowed down a few laps before those other guys, so he lost some time there. He kind of woke up again toward the end and got back up to speed. We tested this week and made the bike a little stiffer for him. Even coming here his fork was still too soft, so we made it stiffer for the last practice, which really helped. We also made a gearing charge because he was revving out the bike. Kenny saw it while watching practice too, so he kind of helped Christian throughout the day. He’s bummed he’s not racing, but since he was here he wanted to help out as much as he can.”

 
AMA Supercross 2018 
Race Round 10  

450SX Main Event Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 BRAYTON Justin 10 USA 26 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda  
2 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 23 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki  
3 WEBB Cooper 2 USA 21 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha  
4 CRAIG Christian 32 USA 19 Team Honda HRC Honda  
5 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 18 Red Bull KTM KTM  
6 PEICK Weston 23 USA 17 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki  
7 ANDERSON Jason 21 USA 16 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna  
8 WILSON Dean 15 GBR 15 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna  
9 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 14 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM  
10 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 13 Red Bull KTM KTM  
11 BLOSE Benny 934 USA 12 Bloss Racing Yamaha  
12 REED Chad 22 AUS 11 CR22 Husqvarna  
13 CHISHOLM Kyle 11 USA 10 Chisholm Racing Kawasaki  
14 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 9 Bowers Racing Kawasaki  
15 CUNNINGHAM Kyle 39 USA 8 H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki  
16 STEWART Malcolm   USA 7 Ride365.com/Stewart Racing Suzuki  
17 FRIESE Vince 45 USA 6 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda  
18 TAFT Bradley 53 USA 5 Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha Yamaha  
19 TEDDER Dakota 90 USA 4 Team Tedder KTM  
20 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 3 TPJ.com/Fly Racing Honda  
21 GARDNER Carlen 805 USA 2 None Honda  
22 SOUBEYRAS Cedric 201 FRA 1 None Suzuki  
 
AMA Supercross 2018 

450SX Rider Standings

Limited to top 30 results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 ANDERSON Jason 21 USA 223 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna
2 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 183 Red Bull KTM KTM
3 BRAYTON Justin 10 USA 170 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda
4 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 164 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
5 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 160 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
6 PEICK Weston 23 USA 153 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
7 WEBB Cooper 2 USA 146 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha
8 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 131 Red Bull KTM KTM
9 SEELY Cole 14 USA 124 Team Honda HRC Honda
10 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 113 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha
11 ROCZEN Ken 94 GER 102 Team Honda HRC Honda
12 WILSON Dean 15 GBR 100 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna
13 STEWART Malcolm   USA 89 Ride365.com/Stewart Racing Suzuki
14 FRIESE Vince 45 USA 87 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda
15 GRANT Joshua 33 USA 83 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
16 REED Chad 22 AUS 81 CR22 Husqvarna
17 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 69 Bowers Racing Kawasaki
18 CUNNINGHAM Kyle 39 USA 57 H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki
19 BLOSE Benny 934 USA 51 Bloss Racing Yamaha
20 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 45 TPJ.com/Fly Racing Honda
21 CHISHOLM Kyle 11 USA 40 Chisholm Racing Kawasaki
22 CRAIG Christian 32 USA 37 Team Honda HRC Honda
23 MARTIN Jeremy 6 USA 36 GEICO Honda Honda
24 RAY Alex   USA 22 Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha Yamaha
25 MARTINEZ Cole 68 USA 20 Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha Yamaha
26 HILL Justin 46 USA 18 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
27 BISCEGLIA Matt 58 USA 15 Nut Up Industries/RBI Motorsports Suzuki
28 TEDDER Dakota 90 USA 14 Team Tedder KTM
29 ENTICKNAP Adam 722 USA 12 The Privateer Journey Honda
30 BOGLE Justin 19 USA 12 RCH Racing Suzuki