Race Day Feed: Red Bull Straight Rhythm

Kyle Chisholm and Kyle Partridge went at it for three races too, with Partridge advancing. Things would tighten up more in the quarterfinals as the speed became more concentrated. Speaking of the quarterfinals, here’s what those matchups looked like:

250 Class

Marvin Musquin vs. Darryn Durham

Jordon Smith vs. Justin Bogle

Chris Blose vs. Jessy Nelson

Nico Izzi vs. Justin Hill

Open Class

James Stewart vs. Josh Hansen

Josh Hill vs. Malcolm Stewart

Justin Brayton vs. Kyle Partridge

Shane McElrath vs. Dean Wilson

Quarterfinals

With the quarterfinals all wrapped up things are starting to get serious here at Red Bull Straight Rhythm. In the 250 Class the best battle in the quarters was without a doubt put on by GEICO Honda teammates Jordon Smith and Justin Bogle. Smith upset Bogle in a close race in the first race, but Bogle came back and evened it up in the second. Smith busted out a big quad in the final race to keep things even early, but Bogle started stretching it out only to have Smith come back on him at the end in the whoops. Bogle held on though and took the win by a tenth of a second. “It was intense and it’s a fun deal to do with your teammate,” Bogle said afterward. “He got a lot better run through the whoops than I did so I’m going to go back and take a look at that. This next round between me and Marvin [Musquin] should be good.”

 In the 450 Class the thrills were provided by Josh Hansen and James Stewart in the second race. Hansen held the advantage almost the entire race, but Stewart absolutely obliterated the whoops to win comfortably. The other Stewart, Malcolm, who seemed to set the fastest lap every time he raced, also advanced, which set up a Stewart vs. Stewart matchup in the semifinals. Here are the brackets:

 250 Class

Marvin Musquin vs. Justin Bogle

Jessy Nelson vs. Justin Hill

 Open Class

James Stewart vs. Malcolm Stewart

Justin Brayton vs. Dean Wilson

Semifinals

The farther it go into Red Bull Straight Rhythm the hotter it was, and we’re not talking about the 100+ degree temperatures. Marvin Musquin eliminated Justin Bogle to advance to the finals, where he’d go up against teammate Justin Hill. Jessy Nelson and Justin Bogle would battle for third overall.

 In the Open Class things were a bit more interesting. The first matchup was James Stewart vs. Malcolm Stewart, with James taking the win in the first race. In the second race James made a few mistakes early on to hand the advantage to Malcolm, but then Malcolm made a big mistake of his own which allowed James to get back in it and go on to take the win. When asked about the pace afterward James replied, “He [Malcolm] had me riding out of control out there!”

 Dean Wilson won the first race over Justin Brayton but Brayton came back to win the second in an extremely close race. In fact, they were so close that timing initially had them tied! The margin of victory turned out to me two hundredths of a second. Wilson looked good for the tie-breaker, but Brayton put on a big charge at the end to come from behind and advance to the finals to face James Stewart. Malcolm Stewart would face Dean Wilson for third.

 Finals

After the close action of the semis the finals themselves were somewhat anticlimactic, although Justin Bogle and Jessy Nelson had a tight race as they battled for third overall, with the position going to Nelson. But in the race for the championship it was all Marvin Musquin over teammate Justin Hill. Opting not to take any big risks, the Frenchman was fast, smooth and mistake-free all day, a combination that resulted in a perfect scorecard in every single round. The 250 podium was all orange too, which had to have the bosses over at KTM smiling.

 In the Open Class Malcolm Stewart handled Dean Wilson for third overall, while James Stewart comfortably won over Justin Brayton to take the win. Like Musquin, Stewart didn’t lose a single race all day.

 Final Results

 Open Class

1. James Stewart
2. Justin Brayton
3. Malcolm Stewart
4. Dean Wilson

 250 Class

1. Marvin Musquin
2. Justin Hill
3. Jessy Nelson
4. Justin Bogle

Morning Report

 As you might expect, racing on a track without turns is a whole new ball game, but riders are beginning the understand how it's played. We saw huge variations on times during Friday's first practice runs, but the field is starting to tighten now that the fast lines and rhythms have been established.

The lap times hover around the 50-second range, similar to a regular supercross track. Of course, without turns, they're going faster over a longer distance, and a few mentioned grabbing fourth gear and pinning it on a 450, which they don't ever do on a track with turns.

The toughest part of the track is the very first rhythm section, and nailing those jumps with perfect timing could change everything. Plus, riders have to take on a small set of whoops right out of the starting gate, so they're grabbing gears while also preparing to hit obstacles.

The rest of the track is a little less technical but faster, including a sand section, five-straight on off tables, and a ten pack of jumps that can be taken in a variety of double-triple patterns. But, in talking to riders and teams, it seems most will figure out the best combos, and the race will come down to tenths of a second--scrubbing harder, hanging it out more and figuring out a way to push harder. The races should be close and pretty exciting if it turns out that way.

Today’s competition is separated into two classes, 250cc and Open, and each matchup consists of three, one-on-one races. For a racer to win his bracket and move on to the next round, he’ll have to win two of those three races. In other words, if a rider makes a mistake in one race he’ll have another chance to come back in the next.

The initial matchups were determined by qualifying, with the fastest rider in each class going up against the slowest, second fastest against the second slowest and so on. James Stewart and Marvin Musquin were the fastest qualifiers in their classes, and veterans Grant Langston and Travis Pastrana, who is racing a 500cc two-stroke, looked fast too—if you didn’t know any better you’d never guess that they’ve both been retired for quite some time. Check out the pictures below to see who will be going up against each other first.