Features 13 Apr 2021

Racefeed: 2021 Supercross Rd14 Atlanta

Direct updates from round 14 of the season in Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Follow the 14th round of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX West qualifying:
Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper returned to the top of the qualifying timesheets when Atlanta 2 got underway, besting Cameron McAdoo in second place by more than three-quarters of a second with his 1:36.143s lap. Third place and nearly two seconds behind them was Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence, as Ryan Sipes (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) rounded out the top five. Sixth was Saturday’s winner Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) with a 1:39.091, followed by fellow rookies Stiles Robertson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Jarrett Frye (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha). Ninth went to Garrett Marchbanks (ClubMX Yamaha) with Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) rounding out the top 10.

450SX qualifying:
Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) found himself at the top of the timesheets when all was said and done. The New Mexico rider’s flowing style fairing well for him as he went on to set a fast lap of 1:34.232s, which he did in the first of the two sessions. Second place went to championship contender Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) with his teammate Chase Sexton just behind him to round out out the top three. Fourth place went to Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) while Saturday’s winner Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) rounded out the top five as the first rider in the 1m35s range with his 1:35.513s lap. Sixth was championship leader Cooper Webb with Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) taking seventh on the day as the first rider in the 1m36s range. Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) was eighth fastest, followed closely by Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin while the final spot in the top 10 went to Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

250SX West heat 1:
The first holeshot of the night went to Ty Masterpool (GasGas) as a massive pile-up happened in the first section. When it shook out it was Jalek Swoll followed by McAdoo, Masterpool, Jace Owen (Yamaha), and Chris Blose (GasGas). McAdoo wasted no time getting around Swoll on just the second lap, to take the lead. Thrasher worked his way into fourth with just over two minutes to go riding with a ton of confidence after his Saturday win, the young rookie quickly catching Blose for third place. Out front McAdoo had blasted out to a 7.5s lead by the time the white flag came out, setting sail to a heat race win. Second place went to Swoll with Thrasher, Blose and Peters rounding out the top five. Owen ended up sixth with Brown working his way into seventh place. Masterpool took eighth with the final transfer spot going to Derek Drake (Suzuki). After a first turn crash, Sipes and rookie Jarret Frye ended up 11th and 13th sending them to the LCQ.

250SX West heat 2:
Cooper grabbed the holeshot but was overtaken by Mitchell Harrison (Muc-Offf Honda). It was Harrison, Lawrence, Coty Schock (FXR Chaparrel Honda) Hammaker, and Cooper as the first few sections were complete. The top five were covered by just one second after the first lap, as Lawrence jumped past Harrison for the lead on lap two. Hammaker then began to charge, putting pressure on Harrison, while Mumford reeled in the front running group in sixth. Hammaker completed the pass with a quick cut down on the exit of a corner, taking second just under two seconds back from Lawrence. Cooper sent it through the sand section past Harrison moments later, closing in on Hammaker and making a block pass on Cooper, causing Hammaker to get high on a berm and drop positions. Things got worse for Hammaker, crashing in the whoops section moments later, dropping him from second to 13th in less than half a lap. Out front Cooper reeled in Lawrence with just two laps to go, setting up a battle for the last lap. Nearly crashing in the whoops, Lawrence allowed Cooper to close on to his rear wheel, with Cooper eventually attempting a pass a corner later. Lawrence sliced back up the inside to regain the position in the same corner. Cooper pulled alongside Lawrence making the pass as the duo started the final lap. Cooper stretched out a one-second lead, taking the win over Lawrence with Harrison in third. Schock took fourth with Marchbanks, Mumford, and Lopes just behind him. Cedric Soubeyras was eighth with Ramyller Alves taking the final transfer spot. Hammaker regained to 10th place, sending him to the LCQ. 

450SX heat 1:

Ken Roczen grabbed the holeshot from Wilson, Webb, Stewart, Barcia and Max Anstie (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) just behind. An issue for Webb dropped him back to fourth place, allowing Wilson and Stewart to get around as Roczen gapped the field early on. Barcia began to pressure Webb, trying a host of lines and eventually bumping into him in an attempt to get by after the whoop section. Barcia eventually washed out in a corner dropping back to sixth place allowing Plessinger to get by. Out front, Roczen worked his way to a 3.6 second lead over Wilson who was maintaining a gap to Stewart in third, with Webb and Plessinger a few seconds back from that. As the checkered flag came out it was a wire-to-wire win for Roczen, who won by nearly seven seconds ahead of Wilson, Stewart, Webb and Plessinger. Sixth went to Barcia with Anstie in seventh. Mitchell Oldenburg secured eighth on his Muc-Off Honda with Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki) taking the last transfer spot in ninth.

450SX heat 2:
Marvin Musquin grabbed the start with Sexton, Anderson Davalos and Ferrandis just behind. Savatgy carved his way to second quick and the duo got out to a lead quick. Anderson had issues off the start and hadn’t left the starting line by the time the rest of the field got to turn one. Anderson recovered to 12th by the start of lap two, before getting collected with Alex Ray, Ray slamming into Anderson in the air in a rhythm section. Out front Savatgy began to pressure Musquin with Sexton just behind him. Ferrandis settled into fourth while Tomac worked his way into fifth. Sexton found his way past Savatgy on the final lap, setting sail after Musquin with just half a lap to go. In the end it was all Musquin, taking his first heat win since Indianapolis 2, followed by Sexton, Savatgy, Ferrandis and Tomac rounding out the top five. Davalos took sixth just ahead of Broc Tickle (MotoConcepts Honda). Josh Hill (Yamaha) made his first main event of the season in eighth with Justin Starling (Honda) taking the final transfer spot. Anderson would finish 10th, just a half-second back from Starling.

250SX West LCQ:
Ryan Surratt (Kawasaki) grabbed the holeshot with Frye, Jerry Robin (Husqvarna), and Hammaker just behind in the transfer positions. Frye and Hammaker made short work of Surratt to take the top spots, while the pack began to battle for the final transfer spot. Sipes began to recover from his rough start, working his way into sixth battling with Robin and Sean Cantrell (Suzuki). Sipes worked his way into the transfer spot past Cantrell with a crafty move around the outside in one of the roller sections. Sipes hit the ground hard going over the bars and collecting Cantrell in the process. Out front, Hammaker and Frye checked out by over eight seconds on Surratt and Robin as the duo started the second to last lap. Derek Kelly put in a charge to catch Robin, crashing in the whoops as he attempted a pass, while Surratt had an issue dropping back to sixth. In the end, it was Frye, Hammaker Robin, and Dilan Schwartz (Suzuki) punching their tickets to the main event.

450SX LCQ:
Scott Champion (Yamaha) grabbed the start from Anderson, but it wasn’t long until Anderson got by. When the first lap shook out it was Anderson, Champion, Henry Miller (KTM) and Jeremy Smith (Kawasaki) in the top four, with Cade Clason (Kawasaki) just one spot out of the transfer positions. Clason worked his way by Smith for the final transfer spot, with Ray just behind him as Anderson jumped out to a 10-second lead. Ray hit the ground shortly after, subsequently ending his shot at making the main. When the checkered flag came out it was Anderson winning by 30-seconds, with Miller, Champion and Clason taking the final transfer spots for the main event.

250SX West main event:
Off the line it was Thrasher with Cooper, Marchbanks, Lawrence, Blose, and McAdoo just behind. Cooper made a quick pass on thrasher to take the lead and the top six settled in for the opening lap. McAdoo made the pass on Blose bringing Brown with him. McAdoo crashed hard, flipping onto the top of the tunnel jump in the process. Meanwhile, Cooper stretched out a bit of a lead out front with 12 minutes to go. The red flag came out for McAdoo, he would eventually be checked by medical staff and line back up for the restart. When the gate dropped again, McAdoo grabbed the holeshot, with Thrasher just behind. Thrasher made quick work of him, then Marchbanks made a block pass letting Cooper around and into the lead. Thrasher settled into second with Marchbanks, McAdoo and Schock in the top five. McAdoo began to pressure Marchbanks for third, attempting a pass to no avail, instead passing him a half a lap later. Now just three seconds out of the lead, McAdoo began to pressure Thrasher for second. Further back, Lawrence had issues dropping back to seventh. With just under 10 minutes to go in the race, McAdoo took second from Thrasher through the whoops with incredible speed. By that point Cooper had stretched out a five-second lead, McAdoo pacing him in second. Lawrence made headway and got himself into fifth, catching Marchbanks with five minutes to go, quickly making a pass on him for fourth. He sat sail, catching Thrasher just a few laps later with two minutes to go in the race, making a pass through the sand section and into third. He then reeled in McAdoo with two laps to go, making the pass into second. It was all Cooper in the end though, taking the win by seven seconds over Lawrence. On the last lap, thrasher charged, reeling in McAdoo but it was a bit too late, McAdoo taking the final spot on the podium just ahead of Thrasher. The final spot in the top five went to Marchbanks, with Harrison in sixth. Schock took seventh with Brown, Hammaker, and Swoll rounding out the top 10.

450SX main event:
Into turn one it was Ken Roczen but Sexton grabbed the lead, Webb slid up the inside and the championship rivals were set for battle. When they settled in, Roczen led from Webb, Sexton, Musquin Wilson and Tomac. Roczen charged early on, attempting to make a break in the lead. Anderson moved into seventh early on, shuffling tomac back to ninth. Plessinger got tangled up in the first turn and started well outside of the top 10. Sexton moved around Webb and into second, with Barcia and Musquin just behind the points leader. Anderson made a move on Musquin, the clock now with just over 16 minutes left. Barcia made his way around Webb for third with a pass through the whoops, allowing Anderson to close in on him as well, making the move moments later for fourth. Tomac then began to pressure Musquin, the two not far back from the championship leader. Tomac capitalized on his speed in the whoops to make a pass in the following corner for sixth, while Anderson made a pass for third on Barcia toward the front. With eight minutes to go, Roczen had stretched out a lead over five seconds ahead of Sexton. Webb charged to open a gap back up on Tomac and then closed on Barcia as the clock ticked under five minutes to go. Webb attempted a pass on Barcia over a wall jump with two laps to go, Barcia closing the door and Webb tipping over at the top of the jump, dropping him back to sixth place.

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