Marvin Musquin has been allowed to keep his win in Saturday’s Round 12 of Monster Energy Supercross at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, but was penalized seven points for jumping in a medical (red cross) flag segment of the track. The red cross was flying so that medical attention could be performed on Justin Brayton and Chad Reed.
“I was leading and all the nerves and excitement,” Musquin said at the time. “You can see on the video that right there I am slowing down, but then I’m jumping. We’ll see what’s going on with that, but nothing I can do right now.”
Under Section 4.16 of the AMA Supercross rulebook, riders must keep their wheels on the ground when they are going through a medical flag. For violating the rule, Musquin was penalized the points and purse equal to two positions in the final results, plus two points.
“Here’s the thing. As the red cross flag was coming out, I was rolling and I saw (Musquin) doubling through,” second-place finisher Ken Roczen said after the race. “And I was like, ‘Oh. That’s not ok.’ I knew right there and then. That’s when he gapped me quite a bit.”
Eli Tomac crossed under the checkers third.
Musquin’s penalty means that instead of cutting Cooper Webb’s points lead in half, he leaves Seattle 14 points back of him. It could be a critical moment in the 450SX championship, especially since Webb didn’t have a great night.
At the beginning of the Main, Webb was as far back as sixth on Lap 10. He continued to lose ground to the leader, but steadily began to pick up positions as the riders in front of him made mistakes. He finished a distant fourth – 8.673 seconds behind Tomac.
“It was a tough main event,” Webb said. “I’ve been really good on my starts and I didn’t execute, so it’s pretty frustrating.”
Joey Savatgy rounded out the top five.
During qualification, Roczen announced he has been battling with his energy level over the past two weeks.
On Lap 1 Chad Reed had a hard off his bike and was landed on by Kyle Chisholm.
Complete Results
Points Standings
When Dylan Ferrandis found the rhythm to quadruple jump one on the straights, he shed the role of bridesmaid and earned his first career 250SX victory after finishing second four times already this season. He took the lead on Lap 3 from James Decotis, but when he looked over his shoulder one lap later it was the points leader Adam Cianciarulo chasing him.
Ferrandis stretched his advantage to nearly two seconds in the middle stage of the race, but Cianciarulo would not go away. The red plate loomed large in the closing laps and Ferrandis won by .571 seconds.
“It was crazy,” Ferrandis said on NBCSN. “It’s been a while since I led a race; AC (Adam Cianciarulo) was really fast. He pushed me. … I just tried not to make a mistake.”
“Congrats to Dylan,” Cianciarulo said afterward. “He’s been so close all year, and really just a world class rider.”
James Decotis emerged from a three-rider snarl on the first lap to take the early lead, but he could not hold it for long. Colt Nichols passed Decotis, but then dumped his bike in the rhythm section when he landed awkwardly on a second triple. Once the two points leaders got around, Decotis faded to a distant third, more than 22 seconds back.
Michael Mosiman and Chris Blose rounded out the top five.
The last time the riders were on the track in the East/West Showdown in Atlanta, Ferrandis finished second behind Cianciarulo.
Third in the points entering Seattle, Shane McElrath’s title hopes took a hit when it was announced just prior to Heat 2 that he would miss the night with a back injury. He was 17 points out of first and two points away from second.
Complete Results
Points Standings
450 Heat 1: After back-to-back features outside the top five, Ken Roczen scored his fourth heat win of the year. … Marvin Musquin emerged victorious during a handlebar-to-handlebar battle with Blake Baggett in the opening laps to finish second. … Zach Osborne rounded out the top three after Baggett faded to fifth at the checkers.
450 Heat 2: Cooper Webb struggled in qualification (11th), but as he’s shown on several occasions this season, he found his rhythm when it mattered most. He grabbed the holeshot and led flag to flag. … Eli Tomac made him work for it, pressuring Webb for the entire heat. The difference came in the whoops, where Webb jumped effortlessly through them as Tomac tried to blitz. Tomac consistently lost momentum at the end of the straight. … Dean Wilson held off a determined challenge by Joey Savatgy as the pair finished third and fourth respectively.
450 Last Chance Qualifier: Ben Lamay is making a career out of winning LCQs. He took the lead at the gate drop and held it till the checkers for his third win. … Ryan Breece finished 2.78 seconds behind. … Alex Ray and Austin Politelli had a spirited battle for third and fourth, but both transferred. … Joshua Grant was challenging for the lead, but he stalled in the whoops and fell to fifth. With two laps remaining, he was gaining on fourth until the whoops bit him again. This time he went down hard and shook his head in resignation.
250 Heat 1: Adam Cianciarulo grabbed the holeshot the field and yarded James Decotis by more than six second to earn his third heat race of the year. … Cameron McAdoo rounded out the top three.
250 Heat 2: Colt Nichols got off to a slow start and finished the first lap in third. He worked his way past Chris Blose by Lap 4. … Dylan Ferrandis moved into second a few laps later and held on for the finish. … Blose rounded out the top three. … The holeshot went to Jacob Hayes, but he slipped to fourth at the checkers. … RJ Hampshire went down in the whoops on a bike that pitched and bucked like a wild horse; he recovered to finish sixth.
250 Last Chance Qualifier: Robbie Wageman passed Jerry Robin on the last lap to win the LCQ. … Killian Auberson rounded out the top three. … The battle for the final transfer heated up on the final lap when Chris Howell bumped Mathias Jorgensen off course. Jorgensen kept the throttle twisted and reentered the course at the end of the straight. He finished fourth, but was penalized for accelerating off track. … Gage Schehr went down hard early in the LCQ to bring out the red flag; he walked to the medical cart under his own power with a splint on his right arm.
Points Leaders
450SX
Cooper Webb (262) (5 wins)
Marvin Musquin (248) (2 wins)
Eli Tomac (243) (3 wins)
Ken Roczen (239)
Blake Baggett (200) (1 win)
250SX West
Adam Cianciarulo (163 points) (4 wins)
Dylan Ferrandis (151) (1)
Shane McElrath (123) (1)
Colt Nichols (121) (1)
RJ Hampshire (103)
250SX East
Austin Forkner (151 points) (5 wins)
Chase Sexton (125)
Justin Cooper (123)
Alex Martin (92)
Martin Davalos (89)
Top 5s
450SX
Ken Roczen: 9
Marvin Musquin: 9
Cooper Webb: 9
Eli Tomac: 8
Blake Baggett: 7
Joey Savatgy: 3
Dean Wilson: 2
Chad Reed: 2
Justin Barcia: 2
Jason Anderson: 1
Justin Bogle: 1
Justin Brayton: 1
Aaron Plessinger: 1
250SX West
Adam Cianciarulo: 7
Dylan Ferrandis: 5
Shane McElrath: 5
Colt Nichols: 4
RJ Hampshire: 3
James Decotis: 3
Jacob Hayes: 1
Garrett Marchbanks: 1
Jess Pettis: 1
Michael Mosiman: 1
Chris Blose: 1
250SX East
Austin Forkner: 6
Justin Cooper: 6
Chase Sexton: 6
Jordon Smith: 3
Martin Davalos: 3
Alex Martin: 2
Mitchell Oldenburg: 2
Next race: March 30, NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
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