Benji Robinson: The Man Who [Briefly] Appeared as Fastest Qualifier at Southwick
![Benji Robinson: The Man Who [Briefly] Appeared as Fastest Qualifier at Southwick](http://rxi.iscdn.net/2024/07/290487_snapseed-7.jpg?ar=3:2&fit=crop)
Everyone knows the secret. Southwick, a track that gets rougher by the lap, is fastest early in the morning. So that leads to an interesting wrinkle where the first practice of the day, 250 B group, often produces the best lap times. This means riders who aren't ranked in the series points often land the fast qualifier award at Southwick!
This has become a bit of a fun tradition to watch those early 8 a.m. laps on Saturday and see who is hauling the mail. Last year it was "Da Rippah" Jimmy Decotis, coming out of retirement, who got into B practice and promptly landed the fastest overall lap in the 250 class. Years ago, when 450s raced first, local product Mike Sottile grabbed the fastest qualifying time.
This year all eyes were on 52-year-old Tony Lorusso to use his Southwick knowledge and the smooth B group track to get into the show. He missed it by a few spots (he ended up 40th overall in lap time, and the top 36 go to the gates for the motos in every AMA Motocross round. Lorusso also raced the LCQ and got eighth, again missing the cut by four spots).
Who did top that B session? Well, the lap charts said it was Alexandria, New Hampshire's Benjamin "Benji" Robinson on top with a blistering 2:05 lap time. That should have locked Robinson in as the day's fastest qualifier, but he ended up being penalized. Twice, really!
First, his bike failed sound test, so his fastest lap was pulled, as is the standard penalty for that infraction. Robinson's second-best time wasn't enough to make the show.
This seemed like a heartbreaker. From fastest qualifier to not even qualifying!
On Saturday night, while getting info for our weekly Fly Racing Racer X Race Review Podcast, we sent a DM to Robinson asking him what happened. Turns out, his lap wasn't going to hold up anyway!
Benji wrote this to us in a DM:
"Haha dude no shottt. No way I did a 205 (lap time). The real story is first lap someone endoed in front of me and his rear wheel caught me in the ribs and blew me off my bike. I put in 2 laps and knew I was short on time so I jumped to the top of the track to try and beat the checkered and that must have been the lap! I didn’t check the splits did you?"
We'd love to check the splits on that fast lap, but once that lap time got pulled, the data on it did, as well. Would have been funny to see Benji have segment times of 0.0 in a few sections! Anyway, safe to say his lap time was going to get pulled even if he didn't fail sound. We even talked to a local Southwick racer that saw the course cut and even told the AMA officials about it. One way or another, his lap was going to get pulled.
If you wanna see some stuff Ben Robinson has succeeded in, check out his IG and some of his cool van builds and other cool stuff. But, Ben Robinson didn't go down in Southwick lore as a surprising fastest qualifier. Who did? Frenchman Tom Guyon, who collected the Monster Energy Fastest Qualifier Award with his 2:05.091. Second fastest overall? Haiden Deegan with a 2:05.228
Tom Guyon tops Haiden Deegan. The legend of B practice continues!
| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tom Guyon | -- | 2:05.091 | France  | GasGas MC 250F | |
| 2 |  Haiden Deegan | +0.137 | 2:05.228 | Temecula, CA  | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 3 |  Joey Savatgy | +0.662 | 2:05.753 | Thomasville, GA | Triumph TF 250-X | |
| 4 |  Levi Kitchen | +0.783 | 2:05.874 | Washougal, WA | Kawasaki KX250 | |
| 5 |  Ty Masterpool | +1.086 | 2:06.177 | Paradise, TX | Kawasaki KX250 |
