The racing continued this past Saturday at the O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, CA, for round four of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship. It was a challenging night for the Honda Red Riders, but Team Honda Muscle Milk's Trey Canard was able to put together a spectacular come-from-behind ride to salvage a fourth-place finish. 450 Supercross class rookie Justin Barcia was sidelined for a second weekend after getting tangled in a pile-up on the first lap.
450 Race
After posting the fourth-quickest time in qualifying practice, Canard rode to a solid fourth place in his heat race. In the main event, he put together an impressive come-from-behind performance to finish just shy of the podium. Following a top-five start, Canard got tangled up in a second-turn crash, sending him towards the back of the pack. He quickly began charging his way through the field, working his way up from 10th position. At about the halfway point, Canard went down again, but quickly resumed his hard charge all the way to the checkered flag to finish in fourth. He retrieved enough points to maintain second-place overall in the championship chase, a mere 7 points behind the leader.
"It was a tough night but a good night at the same time," stated Canard. "I went down in the big crash in turn two and my bike got stuck on someone else's, then I made a mistake about halfway through the race and went down again. I'm happy to have salvaged a fourth-place finish and am looking forward to Anaheim 3."
Team Honda Muscle Milk's Justin Barcia returned to the starting gate this weekend only to be sidelined after getting tangled up in the big crash on the first lap. "I'm feeling pretty banged up and sore and mad that this happened another weekend but overall I am okay."
250 Race
It was a tough night for Muscle Milk-sponsored GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac, who crashed twice on the opening lap of the 250 class main event and was unable to continue the race. Unfortunately, Tomac lost the points lead and now sits in third place, 15 points behind the leader. "It was a frustrating night, for sure," Tomac said. "I didn't get the kind of start that I wanted and wound up getting in a big pile-up. I was able to get back up from that but a little while later I lost it in the whoops. The competition in this class is so close that you can't afford to have bad nights like this. I need to go back and focus on my starts for next week."
Teammate Zach Osborne finished 10th place in the main event but was able to maintain his fourth-place position in the points chase. "Tonight was a little bit of a bummer, but we're getting there," Osborne said. "Everyone on the GEICO Honda team is working hard toward the same goal. The track tonight was softer and more technical but I'm feeling a lot better on the bike.
After the announcement that L&Mc Racing would cease operations, former team rider Andrew Short arrived on his own in Oakland aboard a privateer Honda CRF450R and finished a respectable sixth place. Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda's Cole Seely took second-place overall in the 250 class for the third time this season, and teammate Christian Craig finished ninth in the 250 class.
The Focus: Pneumatic Spring Fork
The 2013 CRF450R includes an all-new fork system called the Pneumatic Spring Fork, which incorporates air pressure that provides spring resistance in place of steel springs. Freed from the inherent limitations of a steel-spring design, this new KYB fork is not only an incredible 1.76 pounds lighter, there now is also more room for a new and larger piston in the cartridge damper—32mm in diameter rather than 24mm in the previous fork. As a result, this new front suspension system offers more tuning potential and returns a much more sophisticated, stable and refined fork action all through the travel. It also has dramatically faster responses in directional stroke transitions from compression to rebound and vice versa. This allows the front end to be significantly more responsive to changes in terrain, and keep the front tire in contact with the ground. The result is much better tracking, greater feel, and better traction and steering accuracy.
450 Supercross Class Overall Results
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Davi Millsaps
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Trey Canard (Honda)
5. Mike Alessi
6. Andrew Short (Honda)
7. Matthew Goerke
8. Broc Tickle
9. Vince Friese
10. Justin Brayton
450 Supercross Class Championship Points (after 4 of 17 rounds)
1. Davi Millsaps 85
2. Trey Canard 78
3. Ryan Villopoto 77
4. Ryan Dungey 68
5. Chad Reed 65
6. Andrew Short 56
7. Jake Weimer 47
8. Justin Brayton 42
9. Justin Barcia 41
10. Matthew Goerke 39
250 Supercross West Class Overall Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Cole Seely (Honda)
3. Jason Anderson
4. Martin Davalos
5. Malcolm Stewart
6. Joey Savatgy
7. Kyle Cunningham
8. Austin Politelli
9. Christian Craig (Honda)
10. Zach Osborne (Honda)
250 Supercross West Class Championship Points (after 4 of 9 rounds)
1. Ken Roczen 91
2. Cole Seely 80
3. Eli Tomac 76
4. Zach Osborne 58
5. Jason Anderson 52
6. Kyle Cunningham 49
7. Martin Davalos 48
8. Christian Craig 47
9. Malcolm Stewart 45
10. Tyla Rattray 45
About Honda
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. was established in 1959 and is the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles, scooters, ATVs and side-by-sides in the U.S. The American Honda Motorcycle Division is responsible for the sales, marketing, and operational activities for these products through authorized Honda dealers. For more information on Honda products, go to www.powersports.honda.com.
About Muscle Milk
Muscle Milk® Ready-to-Drink is a protein-enhanced functional beverage that promotes workout recovery, lean muscle growth, and sustained energy. Muscle Milk takes the guesswork out of high performance nutrition, delivering a precise blend of premium proteins, complex carbohydrates, functional fats, vitamins & minerals. CytoSport™, the maker of Muscle Milk®, is among the largest sport nutrition protein beverage companies in the U.S. and offers a complete line of protein-enhanced powders, shakes and bars. Muscle Milk® was named Ready-to-Drink Beverage of the Year by bodybuilding.com, Best Functional Beverage and Beverage of the Year by BevNet and Company of the Year by Beverage Forum presented by Beverage Marketing Corporation and Beverage World.
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