The fact Caterham made it to Abu Dhabi was intriguing enough, and now the team has stayed for the postseason test several days later.
There may be some late season sneaky level of speed and reliability in the Caterham CT05-Renault package, after all. Kamui Kobayashi posted the 13th fastest lap on race day, only 0.007 in arrears of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari, per veteran F1 reporter Adam Cooper.
Today, Kobayashi’s Abu Dhabi teammate Will Stevens was in the car, and the Englishman had a successful day of running. He banked 102 laps and ended sixth on the charts, a respectable result ahead of fellow Renault-powered entries from Lotus and Toro Rosso (albeit suspension issues delayed STR’s Max Verstappen).
“Today’s been a really good day, I’m very pleased with myself,” Stevens said in the team’s release. “We got through everything we needed to do and we completed more than 100 laps, which is excellent not only for me to get more mileage under my belt but also to show that the car is reliable. Overall we got close to the pace we had in qualifying at the weekend. My last run got compromised a bit because of the red flag, but it’s been a very good day.”
After essentially being thrown in at the deep end for his Grand Prix debut, Stevens performed well in comparison to some other recent debuts and said he felt much more at home Tuesday having been through the rigors of a GP weekend.
“I feel completely different in the car now – every time I leave the garage I know exactly what I need to do, where everything is and I’m much more confident than at the beginning of the race weekend,” he said. “I feel very comfortable and I can now focus 100% on the driving side of things.”
The team listed a quote from Gianluca Pisanello, the team’s head of engineering operations, as the technical quote for the day: “It’s been a very useful first day of testing here at the Yas Marina circuit. We were able to follow the program as planned and Will did a very solid job, completing many laps and providing the team with valuable feedback while gaining experience. It was also very interesting to test the 2015 Pirelli tires for the first time and compare them to this year’s and the data we already have from the season that ended on Sunday. Trouble-free days like today are always what the engineers hope for at a test; let’s hope for the same tomorrow.”
There’s still much to sort out as it relates to Caterham’s future in F1 beyond this test, but for one day at least they could take comfort in a solid day of testing.
Chase Sexton stumbled in San Diego and Eli Tomac had a hard fall in Anaheim 2, but the Monster Energy Supercross numbers for Houston suggest they will continue to be the ones to beat in Houston. To do so, they will have to turn back challenges from another pair of riders who have swept the top five in the first three rounds and another with a worst finish of sixth.Cooper Webb’s ability to close races makes him a Houston favorite. – Feld Motor Sports
Despite an accident in his heat in San Diego that sent him to the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), Sexton recovered to score a top-five that weekend. His podium finish in Anaheim 1 and overall win last week in Anaheim 2 makes him one of the three riders with a perfect top-five record. He is joined by Cooper Webb, who finished second in the first two rounds and fourth last week, and Ken Roczen, whose consistency in the first three races contributed to him grabbing the top spot in this week’s NBC Supercross Power Rankings.
There are reasons to believe Webb and Roczen can keep those streaks alive.
Webb is the only multiple winner at Supercross’ current Houston stadium. His pair of wins came in 2019 and 2021, the same year he won his two 450 championships.
Clinton Fowler points out this week, that Webb has carried that strength into 2023. Webb had a late surge in Anaheim 1, advancing from fifth to second in the final six laps. In San Diego, he set his ninth fastest lap with two to go and his eighth fastest on the final lap. He posted his fastest lap of Anaheim 2 on Lap 12 while the rest of the field did so on Lap 6 on average.
By comparison, Tomac set his 14th fastest lap on the final circuit in route to winning the Main at San Diego while he was trying to keep Webb at bay.
With a sixth at San Diego, Dylan Ferrandis barely missed sweeping the top five in his first three races as did Tomac with a sixth last week at Anaheim 2.
This will be the 46th year Supercross has visited Houston and with 55 races the city is tied for the second-most with Detroit.
Jim Pomeroy won the first race in the Astrodome during the inaugural season of 1974 on a 250, which was the premiere class at the time. Houston was one of three races held that year along with events at Daytona International Speedway and the Los Angeles Coliseum. All three venues return in 2023 with the first SuperMotocross championship finale returning to the famed LA Coliseum in September.
Webb won most recently in 2021 in the final race of three held there that year as the series executed a strategy of racing in residencies to limit travel during height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tomac and Justin Barcia also won in Houston in 2021.
Two privateers have started the season on a high note.
Joshua Cartwright and Joshua Varize have each made the last two Mains. Cartwright finished 18th in San Diego and 21st last week in Anaheim 2 – all while working fulltime as a Business Intelligence Analyst at the University of Texas, Dallas. Varize earned a top-15 (12th) in San Diego and was 21st in Anaheim 2 in his third season on a 450.
Michael Mosiman scored his first 250 win last year in San Diego. – Feld Motor Sports
The numbers show none of the active 250 Supercross East riders have won in Houston, so no matter who steps on top of the box, there is going to be a fresh face. That is not surprising since most of the top competitors have not raced at this venue yet.
Michael Mosiman has a pair of top-fives there, however. His best finish was a second in the second 2021 race. Garrett Marchbanks scored a top-10 in his rookie season of 2019 in Houston.
In the 250 East division, Hunter Lawrence is one of the favorites to win the title now that Christian Craig has moved to 450s. Last year he had four wins and nine podiums, but failed to set a fast lap in a race.
Jeremy Martin will attempt to extend a record this week in Houston. His division leading SuperMotocross podiums number 65. He has 26 wins in the combined sessions, which ranks fourth all time.
Last Five Houston Winners
450s 2022, no race
2021, Race 3: Cooper Webb
2021, Race 2: Eli Tomac
2021, Race 1: Justin Barcia
2020, no race
2019, Cooper Webb
2018, Jason Anderson
250s 2022, no race
2021, Race 3: Colt Nichols
2021, Race 2: Jett Lawrence
2021, Race 1: Christian Craig
2020, no race
2019, Dylan Ferrandis
2018, Aaron Plessinger
