Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Justin Hill breezes to the win at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, but Jeremy Martin takes over the points lead.
After showing that he had the speed by finishing on the podium at the previous round, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Justin Hill broke through to collect his first Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross win of 2016 on another topsy-turvy night of racing during round 10 of the series at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, tonight.
Hill had a much easier time of it than he might otherwise have had if not for a first-turn melee that collected Daytona Supercross winner Jeremy Martin and the man who has arguably been the fastest rider in the East yet to grab a win, GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart, who once again suffered disappointment after earning the number one starting position for the 15-lap main event at Rogers Centre.
Hill, who posted the fastest qualifying lap to start the night and also transferred directly to the main event behind Stewart in the second heat race, was lucky to avoid the multi-rider collision, and he got off to a good start behind the early leader, Mad Racing/Yoshimura Suzuki’s Matt Bisceglia and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM teamsters Alexander Frye and Shane McElrath while first heat race winner Tyler Bowers ran fifth on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. McElrath got by Frye on lap two and then charged underneath Bisceglia to take the lead in the left-hand sweeper just past the finish line jump on lap three. Both Hill and Bowers would also get past Bisceglia to run second and third respectively. Meanwhile, both Stewart and Martin were able to rejoin the race, Martin in 14th and Stewart in 20th after having to pull off twice to have his mechanic attend to his battered machine before the race was five laps old.
Hill quickly caught McElrath on lap four, and he was able to execute a perfect inside pass on his teammate for the lead just before one of the rhythm sections on the track. From there, Hill pulled away and ran a trouble-free race to collect the win by over 20.7 seconds after McElrath lost time when he had to pit to change a flat rear tire on lap seven, which derailed what seemed like a sure runner-up finish until then. The Toronto win was Hill’s first in 13 starts.
“We qualified fastest, we were the quickest in our heat race, and the bike was working awesome, so I just had all the confidence in the world coming into the main,” Hill said. “It was just a run-and-hide thing. There was really nobody to battle with except Shane [McElrath] and my buddies. It was a lot of fun racing with those guys, and I was just lucky enough to get away clean, get away with the win. I couldn’t be happier. We tightened up the points chase. I’ve got to give it up to my parents and my girlfriend back home. This one’s for us.”
Bowers would crash and lose several positions during the race while Martin and Stewart charged through the field in an attempt to make up as many positions and salvage as many points as they could. Martin was clearly having a good run through the pack as he picked off riders all the way to the finish to land second place. That finish was good enough to move him into the the series points lead as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos was out of action due to “personal reasons,” though his absence may have been connected to visa issues.
“Tonight I got off to a great jump and unfortunately someone bumped me, and all their weight was on me, and I went down in the first turn,” Martin said. “Congratulations to Justin [Hill]. He was on it all day. We were chasing him all day, and we felt like we were making progress. If we would have been one and two, I think we would have had one heck of a battle in that main event.”
Bisceglia held on to finish third, marking his first visit to the 250SX East podium this season after finishes outside the top 10 in the first two rounds.
“It’s been a long road,” Bisceglia said. “I’ve had a couple of injuries—only about a month ago I was sitting in the hospital, getting surgery. The first couple rounds was just getting my feet wet. I wasn’t quite prepared, but I buckled down with my trainer and my riding coach. We just did as much as we could in these short couple weeks, and I just came out and tried to ride as solid as I could.”
Frye finished fourth, followed by RSR Star Cycle Honda’s Jesse Wentland. Stewart charged all the way to sixth place by the finish to remain in contention for the 250SX East title. As things stand now, Martin leads the series with 65 points. Hill is second, two points back, and Stewart is third, 10 points back. Then comes a steep dropoff to Davalos, who is now in fourth place 20 points back. Aaron Plessinger also has 20 points after finishing 12th tonight, but Davalos holds the tiebreaker by virtue of his opening-round win.
The series continues next week with round four at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, March 19.
2016 Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross Series
Rogers Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Results: March 12, 2016 (Round 3 of 8)
250 Main
1. Justin Hill-KTM
2. Jeremy Martin-Yam
3. Matt Bisceglia-Suz
4. Alexander Frye-KTM
5. Jesse Wentland-Hon
6. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
7. Benny Bloss-Yam
8. Gannon Audette-Kaw
9. Paul Coates-Hon
10. Arnaud Tonus-Kaw
11. Tyler Bowers-Kaw
12. Aaron Plessinger-Yam
13. Cedric Soubeyras-Kaw
14. Anthony Rodriguez-Kaw
15. Joshua Cartwright-Yam
16. Justin Starling-Kaw
17. Jimmy Albertson-Suz
18. Shane McElrath-KTM
19. Logan Karnow-Kaw
20. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
21. Cody Church-Kaw
22. RJ Hampshire-Hon
2016 Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross Series Points Standings (after 3 of 8 rounds)
1. Jeremy Martin-65/1 win
2. Justin Hill-63/1 win
3. Malcolm Stewart-55
4. Martin Davalos-45/1 win
5. Aaron Plessinger-45
6. Tyler Bowers-35
7. Benny Bloss-32
Matt Bisceglia-32
9. Alexander Frye-31
10. RJ Hampshire-Hon
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