The opening round of the professional supercross season always brings out anxiety in the riders, and the GEICO Honda team had to deal with that during Saturday’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross an FIM World Championship race. All four riders showed speed, but the results were hampered by the opening night jitters. Least impacted was Jimmy Decotis, who led the squad with a career-best fourth in the 250SX West Region class, and was happy to deliver when the pressure was highest.
“I’m happy that the best showing I had on the bike came in the main event,” said Decotis, of Massachusetts. “I’ve had good lap times in practice before, good laps in heat races, but something always seems to happen in the main events. I felt I rode strong and consistent the whole time. I think I could have made a run at [Zach] Osborne for third, the podium, but he’s been in that position before and I haven’t. It’s a good step for the first round. Honestly a few weeks ago we were contemplating waiting a few weeks and racing East! I was pushing for it, but I’m glad it came together like it did now.”
Right behind came teammate Jordon Smith, who was running third before a crash dropped him to fifth. “I think it was lap seven, I tipped over coming out of one of the corners,” said Smith, a second year pro from North Carolina. “I was having a good race, my GEICO Honda is really fast and I got a good start. It was one of the first times I’ve ever been up front in a supercross. Last year [rookie pro season] I got a fourth but it was a come-from-behind race, so this time it was good to run at the front of the pack. I just need to get used to it. I can definitely take some positives from it.”
There were positives for Christian Craig, as well, who led most of his qualifying heat race in his first supercross since 2013. He ended up second. His main event fell apart when he tangled with another rider and damaged his front wheel, pushing him back to a 17th place finish.
“I was feeling confident after practice,” said Craig, of California. “Got a holeshot in the heat and led for four laps. Cooper [Webb] passed me where a rider was down and yellow flags, I didn’t know you could pass through there, kind of a mistake on my part not knowing the rule. Ended up second. Went into the main and knew I could run top five or get on the podium. I ended up tangling out of the gate with someone. Made some quick passes, was going to pass [Joey] Savatgy and I clipped his front wheel. Pretty much ended my night, my wheel hit his footpeg and it broke a couple spokes in my front wheel, I had to pull into the mechanic’s area to get them pulled out. I went back out there and salvaged what I could. I’m healthy and looking forward to next weekend to show what I’ve got.”
Team rider Justin Bogle made his debut in the 450SX class, but it was a tough one considering he had recently broken his foot and only got back on a bike this week. He finished 13th.
“My starts were really good, but I’m not really there speed-wise yet, so it was hectic,” said Bogle, “I learned a lot from those guys. Main event was just tough, I got shuffled back pretty quickly. Coming in, the way I came in, whatever, I’ve been here before starting the season off with injuries, it’s not an excuse, but I haven’t done a twenty lapper in months. So, here goes the roller coaster. The good news is, we’ll do it again next weekend.”
Next weekend’s race comes on Saturday night, January 16th, at Petco Park in downtown San Diego, California.
GEICO Honda Team Results:
250SX
4. Jimmy Decotis
5. Jordon Smith
17. Christian Craig
450SX
13. Justin Bogle
