Thanks to Eli Tomac and Justin Bogle Honda won at the Detroit Supercross, but it may have lost just as big.
Like the rest of its rival teams, GEICO Honda could certainly see the commercial benefit of the double main event victories that the Red Bull KTM squad has been enjoying in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series lately, and the GEICO duo of Eli Tomac and Justin Bogle became the first team other than KTM to accomplish the feat at Ford Field in Detroit, Saturday night.
Tomac was the fastest qualifier in the 450cc class, and he backed it up with a second-place finish in his heat race and a good start in the main event, where he tracked down Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey and passed him on lap five. With Dungey wisely backed off at that point, and Tomac went on to win the race by just under 11.9 seconds to claim his second win of the season, halting Dungey’s supercross win streak at three races.
“I’m just so glad that I was able to put it together that time,” Tomac said. “I’ve had so many up-and-down races to where the day starts awesome, where I’m qualifying first and having good heat races and then just making mistakes in the main event. I guess it’s just part of getting older and more experienced, and maybe getting a little more crafty. I think I was being impatient at times, so just to do this is great.”
But for Honda, it was a case of good news and bad news, as Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard landed on the back of Team Tedder/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer in a rhythm section on lap two of the first 450cc semi, bringing out a red flag. Both men were eventually able to get to their feet, but Canard clearly suffered a break to his left arm, which was splinted even before he left the track. Weimer appeared to have a very sore back and required a sling for his right arm before he was driven away by the Asterisk Mobile Medical team; he was later diagnosed with a break to the upper arm. Canard’s injury will likely end his chances for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series title, and it could have implications beyond the supercross series and into the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Canard was expected to see his doctor upon returning home to confirm the extent of the injury.
There was good news for Honda in the 250cc ranks, however, as Bogle gave Big Red its first 250cc win of the year and collected his third career AMA 250cc East Supercross main event win at Ford Field. Bogle’s win ended the win streak of Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, the current series point leader, although Musquin still finished second. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy finished third.
450cc Main Event
BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short got another holeshot to start the 20-lap 450cc main event, but Dungey quickly took over, moving into the lead wth Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. Team Honda/HRC’s Cole Seely was fourth, followed by TwoTwo Motorsports/Discount Tire Kawasaki’s Chad Reed and Toyota/Joe Gibbs Racing Yamaha’s Weston Peick.
Tomac immediately moved to the inside, drawing even with Milllsaps on lap two and taking over second place in the uphill/downhill section that was built into the Ford Field grandstands. Dungey appeared to be gaining an advantage on the field, but Tomac practically erased it on lap four by quad-jumping one of the rhythm sections. At the same time, Seely got to the inside of Millsaps in the uphill/downhill section and made a pass for third place.
Up front, Dungey and Tomac engaged in an intense battle for the lead, with Tomac pressuring Dungey for a lap before getting a better drive through one of the rhythm sections. Tomac cut to the inside of Dungey in the following right hander to take over the lead on lap five. Dungey would immediately begin to fall off the pace. Tomac moved out to a 4.9-second lead by the halfway point. That gap would be up to 10.2 seconds with five laps to go, as Dungey wisely elected not to preserve his point lead by not engaging Tomac in a battle for the win.
Tomac finished 11.89 seconds ahead of Dungey, with Seely grabbing another podium finish by coming home third, another 7 seconds behind Dungey. Earlier in the race, Reed caught Millsaps and passed him for fourth place with 10 laps to go, setting the top five running order for the 450cc main event.
250cc Main Event
Bogle and his GEICO Honda teammate RJ Hampshire were neck and neck as they rounded turn one at the start of the 15-lap 250cc main event, and Bogle snatched the lead while Hampshire quickly fell behind Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy and Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Anthony Rodriguez. Musquin got off to a slow start, trailing the front four along with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos, who was fifth.
The running order would change quickly on lap two as Davalos clipped the last jump in one of the rhythm sections, slammed into Hampshire and went up and over the Tuff Blox, going over the bars and crashing off the track. Hampshire also went down in the collision. Musquin had already committed to the inside line in the left-hand corner, and his decision allowed him to advance two positions. Musquin then moved into third place by cutting to the inside of Rodriguez right in front of the mechanic’s area on lap four.
Martin ran fifth just before the halfway point, and he was able to banzai around the outside of his teammate Rodriguez in the sand corner to move into fourth place on lap seven.
Musquin was the fastest rider on the track, and he had no trouble in catching Savatgy by lap eight. Passing the talented young Kawasaki rider was another matter as Savatgy put up a spirited defense of the runner-up spot. Musquin appeared to have the pass made, only to come up short after Savatgy aggressively tripled out of a rhythm section and forced Musquin to brake in the next corner or face being taken out,Musquin merely waited until the next whoop section to make pass that would stick,
At that point, Bogle was 7.7 seconds ahead of Musquin with seven laps to go. Muquin wasn’t able to put much of a dent on that over the final few laps, and Bogle went on to cross the finish line with a x.x-second margin of victory.
“I’m not going to be able to win every time out, but I can improve, and I can learn each time I’m on the track, each weekend,” Bogle said. “Each loss was a learning experience. I felt good. I felt like tonight was pretty much a perfect night. We’ll keep working. I’ve to come back up here next weekend as well.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan
Results: March 21, 2015 (Round 12 of 17)
450cc Main Event
1. Eli Tomac-Hon
2. Ryan Dungey-KTM
3. Cole Seely-Hon
4. Chad Reed-Kaw
5. David Millsaps-Kaw
6. Joshua Grant-Kaw
7. Broc Tickle-Suz
8. Blake Baggett-Suz
9. Andrew Short-KTM
10. Justin Brayton-KTM
11. Kyle Chisholm-Kaw
12. Nicholas Wey-Kaw
13. Kyle Partridge-Hon
14. Ben Lamay-Hus
15. Phillip Nicoletti-Yam
16. Killian Rusk-Yam
17. Ronnie Stewart-Suz
18. Nicholas Schmidt-Suz
19. Alex Ray-Hon
20. Heath Harrison-Kaw
21. Jason Anderson-Hus
22. Weston Peick-Yam
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Point Standings (After 12 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-271/5 wins
2. Trey Canard-204/2 wins
3. Eli Tomac-194/1 win
4. Cole Seely-180
5. Chad Reed-170/1 win
6. Ken Roczen-156/2 wins
7. Blake Baggett-154
8. Jason Anderson-145
9. Andrew Short-136
10. Broc Tickle-134
11. Davi Millsaps-119
12. Josh Grant-95
13. Weston Peick-92
14. Jake Weimer-74
15. Justin Barcia-71
16. Kyle Chisholm-63
17. Phil Nicoletti-58
18. Mike Alessi-48
Nick Wey-48
20. Josh Hill-40
Brett Metcalfe-40
250cc Main Event
1. Justin Bogle-Hon
2. Marvin Musquin-KTM
3. Joey Savatgy-Kaw
4. Jeremy Martin-Yam
5. Anthony Rodriguez-Yam
6. Colt Nichols-Hon
7. Kyle Cunningham-Hon
8. Mitchell Oldenburg-Yam
9. James Decotis-Hon
10. Jace Owen-Hon
11. Rj Hampshire-Hon
12. Justin Starling-Yam
13. Kyle Peters-Hon
14. Daniel Herrlein-Hon
15. Zack Williams-Hon
16. AJ Catanzaro-Suz
17. Taylor Potter-Hon
18. Bryce Stewart-Yam
19. Adam Gulley-Kaw
20. Gannon Audette-Kaw
21. Jordon Smith-Hon
22. Martin Davalos-Hus
AMA 250cc East Supercross Series Point Standings (After 6 of 8 rounds)
1. Marvin Musquin-144/4 wins
2. Justin Bogle-131/1 win
3. Jeremy Martin-103/1 win
4. Joey Savatgy-93
5. RJ Hampshire-84
6. Jimmy Decotis-69
7. Anthony Rodriguez-68
8. Kyle Peters-65
9. Martin Davalos-63
10. Vince Friese-58
11. Colt Nichols-48
12. Kyle Cunningham-47
13. Mitchell Oldenburg-44
14. Matt Lemoine-39
15. Arnaud Tonus-38
16. Luke Renzland-37
17. Justin Starling-35
18. Gannon Audette-34
19. Jordon Smith=28
Jace Owen-28
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