Valentino Rossi’s statistics could speak for themselves, but in his 372nd and final top-level start of a storied career spanning more than a quarter of a century, he finished 10th one final time in the Valencia Grand Prix and showed he could still contend with the best MotoGP riders in the world even as he bid them farewell.
“I’m very happy. I didn’t expect there could be a weekend like this,” Rossi said in the interview at the top of this post. “It’s always very emotional.
“I received a lot of surprises on Thursday. Also today: all of the riders from the (VR 46) academy used my helmets. I received a lot of respect, a lot of support from the other riders from MotoGP.
“I’m also very happy I was strong. I was quite fast during the week there. Today was a good race. I enjoyed it a lot and today was the best way to finish.”
In his legendary career, Rossi earned nine World Championships, 115 victories and 235 podiums in 414 starts across all classes entering the weekend. With one championship in the 250 class, another in 125s and seven in the top division, Rossi is the only rider in history to win in all three divisions. A total of 89 wins came in the elite class.
The week following his announcement, Rossi finished eighth in Austria, one second behind eventual champion Fabio Quartararo.
He earned one more top-10 in the Grand Prix of Romagna, but fell outside that mark in the penultimate race and felt a little pressure in the finale.
“This result will remain forever,” Rossi said. “I can say that in my last race, I am still in the top 10.”
And Rossi did not have to speak for himself.
Celebrities in the world of sports and entertainment lined up celebrate his career and wish Rossi well on the next stage of his life.
Hosted by Keanu Reaves, some of the greatest athletes on two and four wheels that included Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Reed and Travis Pastrana bid him farewell along with Tom Cruise and Chris Helmsworth.
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
