Free Practice

It took approximately zero seconds for riders to start busting out the big rhythm in the middle of the track. Tha's dragon's back over a single, then hit the face of a the next table and quad-double into the next corner. It's crazy how quickly and easily even the 250 riders nailed that. It could get tricky as the pocket/face of the table gets rough and rutted, and since everyone has to go dragon-double into that pocket, it is likely to take a beating.

The other big line is a 3-3-3 at the top rhythm lane out of the sand. Riders can do it easily but only using the outside of the sand turn. It's much slowed to go outside. If someone could get the 3-3-3 from the inside it would be a huge advantage, but sand turns are tricky and a rut/berm that works one lap could change the next. 

Lots of track grooming here. That indicates the dirt is really soft and needs work to hold up.

When the seeded 250 riders went out, Jett Lawrence and Christian Craig got into a duel to be first on track. Craig looked amazingly fast again but Jett shadowed him and then Craig finally let him go past. Lawrence really looked like he wanted it for a guy who was only riding an untimed practice session. Well, they do time these sessions, but they don't count for qualifying. Lawrence ended up with the top time, Craig was second, and Austin Forkner was third. Forkner was way off in practice on Saturday and turned it around for the night show, saying he's "a racer." (He acknowledged he tried to be really fast in qualifying in 2018 and it backfired on him when he crashed and got hurt.) Forkner going third in this practice is good. Colt Nichols and Michael Mosiman were next.

In the 450s, Jason Anderson usually hangs back and cruises at the back of the train in practice. Suddenly in this session, he was on the gas early and led everyone around. Eli Tomac was also pushing hard quickly, which you don't always see. Maybe that says something about their intentions to come out strong tonight? Are we stretching it a bit? Maybe.

In the end, Chase Sexton again ended up fastest in the session. He was fasted overall qualifier on Saturday. Zach Osborne, also never a qualifying hero was second, then Marvin Musquin, Joey Savatgy and Martin Davalos. Tomac's time ended up 11th, Cooper Webb was 12th and Anderson was 14th. Again, that's not what they want. 

Adam Cianciarulo looked good in this session but for some reason he didn't appear in the lap times. Don't worry, he's racing!

In 450 B group, Freddie Noren had a tough crash-filled go on Saturday but looks good today with the fastest time in free practice.

Wilson Fleming looked really good for most of this session and held the top spot most of the way, but on the tenth lap Devin Harriman jumped ahead to take the top 250 B spot. The dragon's back to single took down Maxwell Sanford with a big hit.

 In 250 A group, Austin Forkner went to the top early, but Christian Craig took it away with a blistering 42.3. Mitchell Oldenburg went down but got up okay. Colt Nichols went to second and then Lawrence took that spot away, but he was still a few tenths off of Craig. Late in the session RJ Hampshire moved up to second, but Lawrence on the very last lap jumped back up to second, three tenths behind Craig Hampshire, Nichols and Forkner rounded out the top five. Max Miller crashed twice in the whoops in this session.

“The track is similar to Saturday just flipped around,” explained Craig. “The dirt is harder packed which suits my style. The sand is tricky, but these lap times are super fast. I don’t know how much faster you can go than a track with low 40s. I can tell you the red plates feel lighter.”

Benny Bloss and Adam Cianciarulo came dangerously close to tangling in the first turn of the 450 A group session. Adam clipped Benny from the inside and nearly went down. Benny was showing serious intent, though, not only as the first rider on the track , but once everyone logged a lap he still held the top time. Bloss didn’t even make the main event on Saturday! On the next lap, the times started coming down into the 43s and Marvin Musquin grabbed the top spot. Then Sexton did it again! He went into the 42s to take the top spot ahead of Musquin. Then Barcia struck! He was on a fast lap in traffic but was splitting guys to maintain his speed, and it worked as he jumped to the top by a tenth over Sexton. The final two laps saw times coming in fast and furious as Sexton moved to the top again, only for Zach Osborne to take it away! Roczen lagged near the back of the times the whole way but ended up third with a late flyer, ahead of Barcia and Musquin. Ferrandis looked good and netted sixth, then it was Savatgy, Tomac, Wilson and Webb in 11^th.

“The main thing is doing this sand section,” said Osborne. “I had a little bit different line than some others through the sand. My knee was quite sore the other day from my press day crash. Just a lot of therapy with Doctor G, acoustic sound waves and massages. It was a Tibial Plataeu injury, just sore. I’m looking forward to tonight, we have amazing dirt tonight in Houston. The track got smoother for some reason and the track was like riding on Velcro, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that much traction. Looking forward to letting these Dunlops work.”

Wilson Fleming was the head of the 250 B group early, again, but once again Devin Harriman moved to the top. The times came down and Texas’ own Curren Thurman then moved to the top, with Fleming second.

The 250 A group practice start saw Colt Nichols beat everyone to turn one, and a tough block got kicked onto the track and nearly claimed Jett Lawrence. Craig took his customary spot at the top of the charts. Later, Colt Nichols then flashed up at the top of the board.Rookie Josh Varize went down hard in the whoops and took a few minutes to get up. A lap later RJ Hampshire went down hard and had to be attended to. He was able to get back up, though. A lot of carnage here, as Lorzeno Camporese also went down. That led to a red flag and a stop to the session, hopefully Camporese isn’t badly hurt.

The session restarted with a few minutes to go, and Craig wasted no time getting to the top of the board again, reclaiming it from Nichols, who was second. Lawrence, Mosiman and Forkner rounded out the top five. What’s interesting is the big rhythm after the dragon’s back has actually changed. Riders are now riding down back the of the dragon’s back instead of jumping off, then going on-off the next table and double-single into the corner. There's not as much airtime as the quad over table, and it appears to be faster. Even though it’s less air, it seems trickier, though.

"Track is breaking up, it was one lined and follow the lead but now we have different lines especially going into the whoops, which I like," said Craig, the fastest.

Justin Brayton holeshot the practice start with Vince Friese right behind. Before long it was again Chase Sexton at the top of the charts. A lot of 23 at the top over these first two rounds. Mid way through the session Adam Cianciarulo found a new rhythm in the long lane at the top of the track. Instead of the 3-3-3 from the outside of the sand he went 2-3-4 into the corner. Then the floodgates opened, Zach Osborne, Eli Tomac, Malcolm Stewart, Chase Sexton and others started busting it. It cost Sexton, though, as he ended up going down hard, flying off the track and onto the concrete. He got lucky and wasn’t hurt.

Cianciarulo ended up fastest.

“I didn’t get a full off season like I would have liked to,” said Cianciarulo. “I don’t like being 10^th in practice, so I just went out and kind of hammered it there. Trying to get some momentum and get some speed back ,and hopefully get some holeshots. Right now the whoops are hard to jump, the middle is so U-ed out, it’s bumpy, it’s better to try to skim over the top. They’re really tricky.”

In 450 B, Freddie Noren told us he was racing on a stock bike on Saturday, because he wasn’t sure about trying to some of the new parts he just got for his race bike. But then he missed the main and he wasn’t happy about it, so he’s going for it with the new stuff today. He is riding much better so far, topping this 450 B group. Clason was second ahead of Starling, Catanzaro and Politelli.

250 Heats

Colt Nichols got an amazing drive out of the gate to holeshot, a few riders clipped bars on the inside and Austin Forkner went flying. Mosiman slid into second but was Nichols gone immediately. A few laps in Nichols threw it away in the sand! He crashed and Mosiman went by. By the sixth lap Forkner had passed Tj Albright to take over ninth for the transfer to the main, and there was a pack in front of him. He got all the way to fourth by the finish, from last.

In 250 Heat 2, Jett Lawrence nailed the start and rode relatively flawless from there. Christian Craig was into second quickly but couldn’t run the young Aussie down, and Jett took the win. RJ Hampshire got around Max Vohland for third, and Jo Shimoda came through the pack for fifth. Josh Varize hung on for the final transfer spot.

450 Heats

Marvin Musquin holeshot 450 Heat 1 ahead of Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis, but Justin Bogle and Vince Friese were in a first-turn crash which brought out a red flag. On the restart the same riders were up front, Sexton Musquin and Ferrandis. Sexton pulled away while Ferrandis went to work on Musquin, and with a hard charge trhough the whoops and a daring outside line, he sliced ahead of his countryman. Justin Brayton had a good start but was overhauled by Malcolm Stewart, then came Anderson, Savatgy, Davalos and Kyle Chisholm doing what he does—always making main events—with a solid ninth.

Justin Barcia and AC battled through the first turn, Adam got bumped into the tough blocks and somehow managed to save it and not get run into by the pack. Zach Osborne slid to second and kept the heat on Barcia. Meanwhile AC was on a mission to get back around his teammate Eli Tomac, and he kept trying moves and looking for an opening. Finally Adam uncorked a quad in a rhythm lane and lept right by the defending supercross champion—it was a bold move, no one else has done the quad here in the heat races. This left Tomac battling Ken Roczen for fourth, then came Webb, Tickle—who started slowing late in the race—Benny Bloss, Dean Wilson and Aaron Plessinger. With Tickle’s problems his teammate Bloss was able to sneak in for the final transfer spot.

Kevin Moranz got out front in the 250 LCQ ahead of Hunter Schlosser…Moranz wshed the front and went down while leading! Moranz got up in fifth and battled past Woodcock for fourth, only to crash for a second time! Then Schlosser fell out of the lead. Classic 250LCQ ware fare here! This left Devin Simonson, Luke Neese, Woodcock and Curren Thurman moved into the final four transfer spots. Neese took the lead over Woodcock and Simonson. For good measure, Thurman decided to dive bomb the whoops on the last lap and nearly ran into the back of Simonson headed to the finish. He barely hung on for the final spot.

 In the 450 LCQ Vince Friese and Brandon Hartranft battled into turn one, Friese used the outside to grab the lead and check out. Hartranft was solid in second. Broc Tickle, in the LCQ after bike problems in the heat, started about seventh but steadily moved forward to fourth, around Joan Cross, with Jeremy Smith third. Freddie Noren was down in turn one, dashing his hopes. Alex Ray was on the gas after a bad start, worked to fifth and started pressuring his teammate Jeremy Smith for fourth, and Smith lost the front end and crashed, putting Ray into the final spot, with Friese, Hartranft and Tickle 1-2-3.

250SX main event

Jett Lawrence grabbed the holeshot but Austin Forkenr was in second then muffed the whoops badly and had to roll the finishline jump. This let RH Hamshire go to second, Forkner was ebehind Mitch Oldenburg but got back going to third. Craig and Nichols were soon making moves after so-so starts and then got to fourth and fifth by the fourth lap.

Forkner slowly closed on Hampshire for second, while Craig stalked his teammate Nichols for fourth. Then Forkner dove it in deep on Hampshire, they collided and both went down! The ill-advised pass attempt by Forkner let several riders get by him and Hampshire, getting up in sixth place. Forkner could have possibly left the race as the points leader, that was costly.

Late in the race, Nichols made a charge on his teammate Craig for second and got him, but it  got a little close as they both went sideways in mid air and nearly touched. Nichols held on for second, Craig third, and Lawrence crossed the line with his first career win. 

"Really good start, track was technical and played in my favor," said Lawrence. "It feels so good to get out hre and finally get a win under my belt. It’s so awesome I’m speechless almost. I don’t know what to say!"

450SX main event

The kids! Sexton and Cianciarulo are 1-2 off the start followed by Tomac and Brayton. Osborne Stewart, Musquin, Webb, Wilson, Ferrandis, Anderson, Barcia, and Roczen. Osborne bobbled early and Stewart got by, then Osborne got him back. Cianciarulo crashed in the sand! Two laps later Sexton went down in the sand! And suddenly Tomac was in the lead! Brayton was second and Osborne was coming on strong from third. Sexton took a huge hit but was able to walk off—it was a scary crash.

Osborne kept working Brayton, and then Musquin crashed in the sand as well from fourth. This sand was crazy!

Webb and Roczen were having a big duel—Roczen passed him, Webb got fired up and started looking for openings. It was Tomac, Osborne, Brayton, Ferrandis, Stewart, Roczen and Webb, and Barcia started with Roczen but lost ground as Roczen battled with Webb. Then came Musquin, after his crash, Anderson, and Cianciarulo (after his crash).

Osborne was digging and digging and digging to gain on Tomac, but then he cased a rhythm and lost all that time. Then he went back to work and really started to close the gap. Behind him Brayton had a huge mistake in the whoops and Ferrandis went by. Stewart started slowing—not sure why—and then Brayton actually recovered to hold Roczen at bay for several laps. Roczen had, by then, pulled away from Webb. Then came Barcia Stewart Musquin Anderson Wilson and Cianciarulo.

Osborne’s run on Tomac finally ended, and then with just two minutes to go it was Ferrandis making a real charge and starting to close on Osborne for second. Ferrandis was killing the whoops and using it to close on Osborne quickly. Then Osborne went down in the corner before the whoops and handed second over to Ferrandis! This put Brayton into third and Webb was closing down on him late.

Through all the turmoil, drama and craziness, Eli Tomac emerged with a big win, righting the ship after 13th at the opener. He wasn’t going as fast as the kids in the opening laps, but they (Sexton and Cianciarulo) crashed and he didn’t. He outlasted Osborne’s determined charge, too.

“Starting that way [13th at round one] was scary for the points race, we needed to rebound to get back into this fight and that’s what we did,” said Tomac. “Chase and Adam were laying down the laps, a burner pace, and I knew it would be a long race, maybe 28 laps, and those guys ended up making mistakes and I capitalized on that. After that I just found a good line in the whoops and tried to stay efficient.” 

Ferrandis took an impressive second in his second 450SX race, and the veteran Brayton hung tough for a podium, holding off Webb, who got Roczen late. Despite that, Roczen emerges as the points leader because Barcia had late problems. 

Ferrandis hung on for second place in just his second 450SX main event start.

“I can’t believe I’m here, I’m not supposed to be, I never expected that,” said Ferrandis. “It’s crazy, the last couple of laps I was P3 and I was like, ‘Dude is that for real!’ It’s unbelievable, the first one, just to be in the top ten in this gnarly 450 class was great, and now to be on the box, wow.”

“Man this is awesome these are so hard to come by I’m 36 but age is just a number,” said Brayton. “I’m so happy to do this for the team, we’ve worked super, super hard as everyone has, but we put in something extra and I hope it’s going to show all year.”

 Webb made a clutch move on Roczen late to get to fourth and nearly pick off Brayton for the podium. Musquin recovered for sixth, Stewart was seventh, Anderson eighth. Barcia's shifter got ripped off during the race and he dropped back to ninth. Osborne was a heart breaking tenth after his crash while running second.