By The Numbers
After Alex Martin led the first lap of the 250SX main event, Austin Forkner and Ferrandis led the final 15 laps combined—Forkner led eight then Dylan Ferrandis led the final seven before becoming the second 250SX rider to get two wins this year. While taking his fifth career supercross main event win, the Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha rider also took over the points lead, taking the red plate from his teammate Justin Cooper. Ferrandis (109 points) now holds a two-point lead over Cooper (107 points) and Forkner sits in third with 99 points.
In the 250SX Class, seven riders either finished with their season best or tied it. Taiki Koga made his first 250SX main event, finishing 18th.
In the 450SX Class, eight riders either finished with their season best or tied it. Joshua Cartwright made his first 450SX main event, finishing 22nd and Cade Autenrieth made his first 450SX main event of the year, finishing 20th.
Justin Hill won the second 450SX heat, his first heat race win since the 2018 Tampa Supercross on February 24, 2018—707 days prior. The SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda finished eighth in the main event—his first top-ten finish of the year.
Anderson has recorded finishes of 5-3-5-3-5 to start the year as he is the only rider in either class to finish the inside of the top five in every round so far.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac battled Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen throughout the 450SX main event before the Colorado native took his 29th career premier class supercross main event win—his 26th on Kawasaki. Roczen led 13 laps and Tomac led eight laps as they swapped for the lead throughout the race. This win moves Tomac out of his tie with Ricky Johnson and into sole possession of seventh all-time. Next on the list is Ryan Dungey with 34 career 450SX wins. Let us know in the comments below if you think Tomac will pass Dungey before the end of the 2020 championship. Tomac has recorded finishes of 7-4-1-2-1 to start the year.
Through five rounds, Roczen remains the points leader in the class with 113 points, three points ahead of Tomac (110), Justin Barcia has 98, Jason Anderson has 96, and Webb has 95.
Jason Thomas called Tomac for the win last week in his Staging Area preview of the weekend.
“Eli Tomac wins Oakland, wrapping up his most successful January to date.”
While the Oakland Supercross took place on February 1, 2020, it’s interesting to look at stats on Tomac’s first five rounds of supercross.
Eli Tomac's 450SX Points Through First Five SX Rounds
Year | Points After Rd 5 | Points Position | Deficit from leader | # of Wins / Best Finish |
2020 | 110 | 2nd | 3 | 2 wins - round 3 (A2) and round 5 (Oakland) |
2019 | 106 | 1st | 0 | 1 win - round 5 (San Diego) |
2018 | 63 | 12th | 52 | 2 wins - round 3 (A2) and round 4 (Glendale) |
2017 | 94 | 2nd | 17 | 2 wins - round 4 (Phoenix) and round 5 (Oakland) |
2016 | 88 | 5th | 31 | 0 wins - 3rd place - round 3 (Glendale) |
2015 | 84 | 3rd | 23 | 1 win - round 2 (Phoenix) |
NOTE: Since the start of the 2018, the main event winner received 26 points, whereas years prior to 2018 the winner was credited with 25 points.
While he doesn't have the points lead this year like he did last year, he has claimed two of the five wins and has had the most points through the first five rounds since he entered the premier class full time. It's also interesting to see that this year he is tied with his best average finish through the first five rounds.
Eli Tomac's 450SX Average Finish Through First Five SX Rounds
Year | Finishes in first 5 rounds | Average Finish | Notes |
2020 | 7-4-1-2-1 | 3.0 | - |
2019 | 3-4-3-4-1 | 3.0 | - |
2018 | 22-0-1-1-13 | 9.3 in his four main events | He missed round 2 with an injury |
2017 | 5-6-8-1-1 | 4.2 | - |
2016 | 4-4-4-7-3 | 4.4 | - |
2015 | 20-1-3-4-3 | 6.2 | - |
Quotes From Around The Paddock
Adam Cianciarulo | 4th in 450SX
“For me tonight we made great strides and for only riding one time this week to see if my tailbone was good to go, I am pretty pumped with the result. I can’t thank the whole Monster Energy Kawasaki team enough for giving me a setup tonight that allowed me to do what I did after being a little banged up. I am looking forward to some more recovery this week and to come out swinging next week in San Diego.”
Jason Anderson | 5th in 450SX
“My night was alright. I think my heat race kind of messed up my gate pick and then I was on the outside so I wasn’t really able to be in the battle right away and once I got into fifth I was in no-man’s land so I just rode it in for fifth. We’ll move onto next weekend and hopefully put myself in a better situation.
“I like San Diego. San Diego is one of my favorite ones. I think the area and stuff is cool. I enjoy it there. It’s kind of like the ender to the west coast wing. I’m from the west coast, so I want to end it on a good note.”
Justin Barcia | 6th in 450SX
“We had an extremely solid week. We tested a lot on the bike. We had some work to do, but on Thursday I felt like I was in a really comfortable position coming into Oakland. Throughout practice all day we improved, and I felt the comfort kind of come, and that was a good feeling for me. I got off the start good in the Heat race, I was about third or fourth and then someone ran into the side of me and kind of set me back a little bit. Then I had to charge up to third and was really close to second and first, but unfortunately, we had a mechanical issue on the last lap, so that sent us to the LCQ.
“The LCQ win was a good confidence boost going into the Main Event. The only tough thing was we were on the far outside gate and for the start this weekend, we needed to be on the inside. I kind of got pinched off and I knew I had my work cut out for me, but my body felt super good. My fitness was awesome. I charged hard throughout the whole Main Event. I came from outside the top 10 up to sixth and was closing in on the guys in front of me. All in all, Oakland for me was not the result I wanted but my riding was awesome. I felt really comfortable on a track that was difficult. I’m really looking forward to next weekend.”
Said Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing team manager Jim Perry:
“However, that put him on the outside gate pick in the Main Event and an outside position on the start was definitely a disadvantage and put us in the back. Justin rode strong all moto long. He came from outside the top 15 to finish sixth, and maybe with a couple more laps he would’ve been able to close in to round out the top five. He put in a great ride. It was a great team effort all around with the engine swap.”
Justin Hill | 8th in 450SX
“This weekend was much better than the one before, that’s for sure. I don’t know what it is about Oakland, but I always feel good here. I don’t know if it’s the floor and the way that the track gets built, but I get here and feel like I can use my creativity and technical ability to finesse the track. In the Main, we put it in the top-10 and I got eighth place, but tonight I should have been top-five, for sure. I struggled with Zach [Osborne] early. I had a really good pace right off of the get-go and almost the way through the first half, but I struggled behind Zach, I stabbed at him a few times but didn’t set up my passes correctly. I tightened up after that, made some critical mistakes, and Barcia and Wilson got by me. That was a bummer because I was in the top-five and six, then lost a couple, but still pushed and tried to get it done as well as I could on the night. I’m happy with my progress and I feel like I am a better rider and man than I was a week ago. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we can put it down because these three races in a row are like my specialty races. I really like Oakland, San Diego, and Tampa. I’m excited to keep building in the direction that I am going.”
Said SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda’s team manager Tony Alessi:
“It was a really good night for Justin Hill and he won his Heat Race, the first of the season for the team. It was a good showing and he turned that into an eighth-place finish in the Main Event, his first top-10 of the season.”
Blake Baggett | 9th in 450SX
“This is a tough one tonight. My result doesn’t show how quick I was tonight. I didn’t get the start I needed in the main to run up front, as I was buried in the pack. We will keep moving forward and be ready to battle for a podium next weekend in San Diego.”
Malcolm Stewart | 10th in 450SX
“The track was tough and rutted. I knew the track was going to be pretty tough during the race, just because of how practice went. It was one of those tracks where you had to find a flow. I didn’t get the best start and I got up to 10th place. I’m not bummed, because I could have given up a lot tonight with a bad crash. To come out with another top-10 finish is the goal. I just have to get my starts down and look forward to San Diego.”
Said Alessi:
“Malcolm was a little bit flat this weekend, possibly from overtraining or the Triple Crown last weekend. He still managed a top-10 finish, and that was good enough to move him up a position in the championship points. The next week will be easy for Malcolm and hopefully he has more in the tank for San Diego.”
Zach Osborne | 11th in 450SX
“My starts were still good tonight, it was just a really frustrating finish after being in the top-five halfway through the Main Event. I need to work on some things this week and come out swinging in San Diego. I feel like I had a really good shot at a good finish tonight but I just kind of let it escape me there in the last half of the main.”
Aaron Plessinger | 12th in 450SX
“Oakland wasn’t really an ideal night. I struggled all day trying to find comfort and it showed in the Main. I got off to a mid-pack start and got passed a couple times. I started making my way through the pack but made a mistake and a couple guys got by me. I tried to just push forward from that point on and ended up 12th. We’re going to go back with the team and do some testing this week. We’ll get ready for San Diego, and I’ll try to redeem myself there.”
Justin Brayton | 13th in 450SX
“Tonight was quite a bummer. I don’t know exactly where I was on the first lap, maybe around ninth, and I just got hung up with another rider [Vince Friese] when he stalled his bike in an off-camber turn. Once he got going, my rear wheel had dug a hole in the up-ramp, and I was stuck. By the time I then got going, I was 22nd by a long way back. I made my way up to 13th, which was about all I could do. It’s such a bummer because I feel like I’m riding really well at the moment and we had a great week at the test track. The bike is amazing and I’m really happy with the changes we’ve made and how it’s working. These bad starts just won’t cut it. These past two weeks I’ve just been terrible on the starts, so I need to be better about that. I think if I can get some starts like I did in the beginning of the year, I can get into the top five. I’m super-motivated heading into San Diego. It’s races like this that really motivate you to get back to work during the week.”
Said Honda HRC team manager Erik Kehoe:
“Justin’s been struggling with his starts the past two weeks. It’s hard to stay out of trouble when you’re mid-pack; it’s hectic and you’re more susceptible to situations that you don’t want to be in, like what happened tonight. He’s very happy with his bike though, so we’ll just keep working during the week and head to San Diego.”
Vince Friese | 14th in 450SX
“We all were packed in tight around the on-off section, got pinched in, and I grabbed too much of the brakes. I went back to pretty much last place. I got back to 14th, which is not good. I had a push where I felt good and put in some good lap times, but the track was brutal. I made a few mistakes and it wasn’t a great night for me. Typically, the dirt in Oakland suits me, so I am bummed to leave here on that note. All we can do is focus on San Diego.”
Alex Martin | 4th in 250SX
"All around better vibes this weekend in Oakland after a productive week of testing in North Carolina with the team. I was able to use that JGR Suzuki power and grab the main event holeshot. I led for a while before going back to third where I rode for the majority of the race before I got passed with a lap and a half to go, finishing fourth. Very bittersweet, but I'm happy with the progress that was made in just one short week with the team. I can’t wait for San Diego!"
Said JGRMX/Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team manager Jeremy Albrecht:
“I was happy with the weekend. Alex rode well all day and his holeshot in the main was awesome. The team worked hard last week to help Alex improve in the whoops. I felt we made big improvements and barely missed the podium."
Cameron Mcadoo | 14th in 250SX
“It was really good to be back lining up for the team. Getting the heat race win felt awesome. I got a decent start in the main and was holding a top 10 but made a mistake and went down. The track was technical and still not being quite 100 percent cost me a little bit in the end. It was great to get out there and see where I was at because I just didn’t know until I did it.”
Injury Updates
Ken Roczen
Roczen mentioned he would probably be getting X-rays on his right foot after the incident in the last turn with Cooper Webb but he hasn’t really posted much about it since other than showing a few foot exercises captioned “Much better quickly” on his Instagram story. Oh and this picture:
We’ll provide an update when it becomes available.
Michael Mosiman
After a hard crash in the 250SX main event that ended his night early, Mosiman said this to our Aaron Hansel after the race:
“I hit my head pretty hard. I don’t have any symptoms currently so we’ll see. It was a rough night overall. ...[I] didn’t get the best start and had a pretty hard crash like three or four laps in. I hit my head pretty good and the bike had an issue. I couldn’t go anymore and pulled it in. But we’re healthy and I learned a lot. The points are pretty bad now so we’re just going to be going for broke from here on out.”
Cameron Mcadoo
McAdoo was right behind Mosiman’s crash in the main event and posted this update following on Monday (remember this was his first race back after dealing with one fully collapsed and one partially collapsed lung):
Dean Wilson
While there’s not really an injury to report on, Wilson did post on Instagram that at one point he came up short and thought he broke both wrists:
Other random notes
Competing in the (now former) home of the Oakland Raiders, Malcolm Stewart busted out another sweet NFL-style paint job on his Shoei lid. Stewart and several other riders also paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant with "Black Mamba" butt patches. Missouri native Austin Forkner showed us who he has voting for ahead of Super Bowl LIV.