Features 13 Feb 2021

Racefeed: 2021 Supercross Rd7 Orlando

Direct updates from round seven of the season at Camping World Stadium.

Follow the seventh round of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from Camping World Stadium in Orlando through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX East qualifying:
Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) finished the final qualifying session of the day on top of the timesheets with a 52.422s lap. He was followed closely by his teammate and red-plate holder Colt Nichols, who ended the session with a 52.710s. Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) who led most of the session finished in third, just 0.033s back from Nichols. Jo Shimoda in fourth was the first rider in the 53-second range, followed by Mitchell Oldenburg rounding out the top five on his Muc-Off Honda. Hunter Sayles (KTM) finished in sixth with a 54.375s lap with Thomas Do (KTM) behind him in seventh. Eighth went to Josh Osby (Honda) with a 54.575 and Joshua Varize (KTM) and Logan Karnow (Kawasaki) rounded out the final spots in the top 10.

450SX qualifying:
The Monster Energy Kawasaki of Adam Cianciarulo emerged as the front runner after the opening two sessions of the day, with a 50.711s lap. Cooper Webb worked his way into the second spot, ending the session a mere 0.008s off the top time. Malcolm Stewart continues to his great form as of late, rounding out the top three as time ran out. Fourth went to Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) with a 51.060s lap, followed closely by Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen in fifth. Shane McElrath (MotoConcepts Honda) made his return to racing by taking sixth overall after setting his fast lap in the final B group session. Seventh went to Jason Anderson who topped the timesheets in the first qualifying session of the day, he’d end the afternoon with a 51.423s lap. Dean Wilson put his Rockstar Husqvarna inside the top 10 as he returns from injury, clocking a 51.700 for eighth. Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) was ninth, just over a full second off Cianciarulo with a 51.872s lap. The final spot in the top 10 went to Benny Bloss (MotoConcepts Honda) with his 51.880s lap.

250SX East heat one:
Lorenzo Camporese (Kawasaki) got off the gate and into the lead during heat one, with Nichols and Shimoda just behind. It wasn’t long before the red plate holder took the lead and jumped out to a one-second lead over Shimoda. Camporese held the three spot for the opening few laps before surrendering the spot to Harlan. Nichols set it on cruise control and took home the win by nearly 10 seconds over Shimoda. Harlan finished in third with Moranz and Karnow rounding out the top five. Osby battled back from a rough start to take sixth, as did Sayles in seventh. The final two transfer spots went to Lane Shaw (KTM) and Camporese.

250SX East heat two:
Oldenburg got a great jump but it was Maxwell Sanford (Honda) taking the holeshot. Oldenburg grabbed the lead quickly, but Craig made a move to the front, the championship contender passing the duo up front in one section. Jett Lawrence quickly followed and slotted in behind Craig to take the second spot. Craig came up short on a triple, upsetting the bike and sending him to the ground in the rollers that followed. Lawrence grabbed the lead and set sail in front of Oldenburg and Jeremy Hand (Honda). Lawrence set sail to win by 12.9s over Oldenburg and Hand. Do picked his way through the pack to take fourth with Varize rounding out the top five. Sixth was Sanford who faded back following his great start. Hunter Schlosser (Yamaha) crossed the line in seventh with Wilson Fleming and Luke Neese taking the final two transfer spots. Craig never remounted and headed to the Alpinestars mobile medical unit for further evaluation on his right hand.

450SX heat one:
McElrath launched off the gate to take the holeshot in his first-ever premier class race. The rookie was followed by Tomac, Musquin, Savatgy and Martin Davalos in the top five. Webb got a rough start back in eighth as did Wilson who was well outside of the top 10 across the line on the first lap. Tomac paced McElrath who held the lead through the first six laps. On the next lap Tomac pulled the trigger, making the pass for the lead. He’d cruise on to the heat win, followed by McElrath, Musquin, Savatgy and Davalos in the top five. Webb made it up to sixth as Brayton took sixth. Bloss and Bogle took the final two transfer spots with Wilson missing the main by one position.

450SX heat two:
Broc Tickle got through the first turn first but Roczen and Cianciarulo quickly swept through to take the top two spots in that order. Anderson slotted into third with Friese and Barcia rounding out the top five on lap one. The top five settled in through the first few laps until Barcia pulled the trigger to pass Friese. Next to make a move was Anderson who jumped to the inside of Cianciarulo with 0:47 and a lap left in the race. 15 seconds behind them the battle raged on for the final transfer spots, with sixth through 10th all covered by one second. In the end it was Roczen picking up where he left on in Indy, taking the heat race win to start his night. Anderson took second with Cianciarulo third. Fourth was Barcia followed by Stewart taking the last spot in the top five. As the battle for sixth shook out, it was Friese holding on to the spot with Osborne, Plessinger and Ferrandis taking the final transfer spots. After a great start, Tickle missed the transfer by one spot finishing in tenth.

250SX LCQ:
Devin Simonson (Kawasaki) got the jump and took the holeshot as the 250SX East LCQ fired off the line. A battered Craig managed to get by him and take the lead in the opening lap, the Star Racing Yamaha rider testing the waters with an injured hand. Simonson settled into second with Scott Meshey (Husqvarna) and Alexander Nagy (KTM) in the final transfer spots. Craig cruised on to take the checkered flag and the LCQ win with Simonson, Nagy and Meshey taking the final transfer spots to the main event.

450SX LCQ:
Kyle Chisholm grabbed the holeshot of the 450SX LCQ followed by Justin Starling. Wilson quickly took the two spot from Starling and set out after the leader. Fredrick Noren was on the bubble early, chased by Hartranft, Clason, and Enticknap. Wilson paced Chisholm for just under a lap before he made a move around the outside to take the lead. Enticknap hit the deck collecting Bowers and the duo fell to the bottom of the leaderboard to end their evenings. Tickle made a charge after a rough start, finding himself in sixth with just over a minute left. He made a move on Hartranft into fifth with two laps to go. Meanwhile, out front, Wilson navigated the last lap to take the win, with Chisholm and Starling behind. Tickle made his way to the back wheel of Noren but it was too little too late, the MotoConcepts rider running out of time, missing the main by one position as Noren punched his ticket to the main.

250SX main event:
Lawrence got off to a great start with points leader Nichols just behind. Craig slotted into the third spot with Moranz and Harlan rounding out the top five on lap one. Shimoda picked his way into the top after a lackluster start, passing Moranz for fourth with just over 11 minutes left. Oldenburg was just behind him after his own start troubles, the Muc-Off Honda rider locking down the last spot in the top five. Out front with 10 minutes and a lap to go, Lawrence eeked out a 1.5 second lead over Nichols, with Craig another three seconds back from them his teammate. Two laps later Nichols closed the gap to Lawrence but had a huge moment nearly crashing, allowing Lawrence to regain a two-second advantage. Lawrence seemed to have a bit better luck sorting his way through lapped traffic in the minutes that followed though, stretching his gap another second while Nichols patiently navigated the backmarkers. With a bit of a break in lappers as they begin to lap into the top 10, Nichols started charging, cutting the lead in half with 3 minutes left. Lawrence responded quickly though, stretching it back to three seconds just two laps later. They found clean air with a lap to go, but Nichols was just a touch too late in his charge, leaving the young Australian to take the top spot with Nichols just on his rear wheel. Craig persevered to finish third on the night after a horrific crash in the heat. Shimoda took fourth with Oldenburg closing out the top five. Varize finished in the sixth spot to take a career-best finish with Moranz just behind him in seventh. Osby, Scholosser, and Karnow took the final spots in the top 10 as the series now takes a 10-week break while the 250SX West series takes place.

450SX main event:
Osborne rocketed to the front, grabbing the holeshot with Brayton, Roczen, Webb and Barcia taking the top five spots on lap one. A mistake by Osborne in the whoops nearly put him on the ground, letting Brayton and Roczen sneak by for the top two spots. Webb found his way past Osborne shortly after to take third as Tomac’s rough start had him buried deep inside the top 10. Webb made a move from third to first four minutes into the race, passing Roczen and Brayton into the same corner. Barcia slid passed into the third spot bringing Osborne with him and dropping Brayton to fifth. Ferrandis had a huge crash ending his night, the Yamaha rider leaving the stadium under his own power. With 15 minutes left, the top three paced each other and settled into a solid groove, with just over a second separating them. Musquin’s struggles returned, as he found himself outside the top 10 following a rough start. Savatgy crashed out of sixth allowing Tomac to take the position and set his sights on the top five. Cianciarulo’s race got off to a rough start and the Kawasaki rider was never really able to move his way into the top 10, hovering around tenth for much of the race. Barcia had a massive moment in the whoops, sending his legs off the side of the bike, the GasGas rider making what would be the save of the night. His mishap allowed Osborne to slip into the final podium spot. Meanwhile, Webb had his own troubles in the whoops but he recovered well in the following lap, opening back up a two-second lead. Roczen made a charge in the closing lap of the race, pulling the gap down under one second, but Webb held on to take his 13th career 450SX main, his second of the season. After attempting multiple passes, Barcia couldn’t seal the deal for the podium spot on Osborne, giving the Rockstar Husqvarna rider his first podium of the season. Barcia held on for fourth with Tomac recovering well for fifth. Plessinger charged through the pack to take sixth just ahead of Musquin and Anderson. Stewart came across the line for his third consecutive top 10 finish in ninth with Cianciarulo rounding out the top 10.

Recent