Las Vegas, NV (May 5, 2018) – For a moment, it appeared GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin might sweep the season of East/West Showdowns in Monster Energy Supercross. He spent the early laps of the series’ finale in Las Vegas stalking race leader Shane McElrath, looking for his chance to grab the lead. Martin, who won the previous East/West Showdown event in Indianapolis back in March, tried a patient attack in Las Vegas, but the plan backfired. He fell into McElrath’s pace and lost his flow, opening the door for Adam Cianciarulo to bust through and grab the victory in the Dave Coombs Sr. Memorial East/West Showdown.
Martin lamented being too nice, and that was compounded when Joey Savatgy ran it in on him in the final turn on the final lap. The collision left both riders on the ground, and pushed Martin back to a fifth-place finish.
“Felt solid all day in Vegas on the GEICO Honda,” said Martin. “Had a good flow going all day and a great start in the East versus West Showdown. But I was too nice in the main behind Shane. I should have tried to force it, but I unfortunately fell into his pace which allowed the guys behind me to catch up and make some moves on me. Still, we had a solid ending to the supercross season—got some wins and momentum going for a few weeks and that felt good. Looking forward to next year’s supercross season and working on a few weaknesses so we can win the title next year!”
Martin’s teammate Chase Sexton came in next with a sixth-place finish.
“Practice was pretty good for me, qualified fourth, but I never really felt the flow on the track,” said Sexton. “It was muddy but then got really dry. But coming into the heat race the track looked much better! Heat race had a good jump off the start but got swallowed up and came out way back. My riding was good and I tried to make passes as fast as I could, got back up to eighth. That gave me 15th gate pick in the main event, but luckily there were some good gates open still and I managed to pull a good start around sixth. Got into a good flow in the beginning of the race but I lost it midway through. I wanted to get to the front, but I lost the back of Savagty. Just didn’t have the intensity I needed all the way through! Came out sixth for the night and was able to get rookie of the year which was awesome! Overall, I’m happy with my season and I’m ready to come back and go for the title next season! Bring on the outdoors!”
Martin ends the East season ranked third in points, Sexton finished fifth in the West.
Meanwhile, GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig continued to represent Team Honda HRC well in his fill-in role in the 450SX class, netting fourth in the main event for the second week in a row. That ties his career best. He also generated four top-five finishes in nine starts on the big bike.
After a weekend off, the team will resume racing with the kickoff to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, at Hangtown in Sacramento on May 19th. Martin and Sexton will be joined in the 250MX class by RJ Hampshire, who is set to return from injuries suffered at the Daytona Supercross. Craig will spend the summer on the Honda HRC 450.
GEICO Honda Results
Dave Coombs Sr. Memorial East/West Showdown
Las Vegas
5. Jeremy Martin
6. Chase Sexton
Was this post helpful? Add yours to our service or subscribe to our feed above.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.