[Above photo] Joey Savatgy interviewed after his first-ever 250SX win. Photo by: Hoppenworld
The 2016 Oakland Supercross and round four of the Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series is now behind us. After the race, we gathered quotes from a myriad of riders in the pits and from around the world wide web. Check out what they all said about their fourth main event of ’16 below. Click for Oakland SX results.
Joey Savatgy: “It’s good man. It’s starting to settle in a little bit. A lot of it for me feels overdue. We’ve had the speed for a while, but I just I haven’t put it together. We put ourselves in a good position last weekend, but I made an unfortunate mistake and went down—you can’t win when you’re on the ground.”
“I put myself in another good position tonight with a good start in the main, and I was in the position to possibly win. Overall, I felt good. We were riding good and we were right there on Cooper’s [Cooper Webb] rear wheel. I tried to stay there, but he got away in the middle of the race. I had a shifter problem from when I hit the haybale and I was stuck in second gear from lap six until the end. The man up above had this plan for me, we got the win and the red plate which is aways a bonus (laughs). I have nothing to say, I’m happy.”
Ryan Dungey:“It feels great to get another win. Being out front early allows me to ride my own race and stay focused. I am really happy for my teammate Marvin tonight. This is a big step for him to get his first podium of his 450 career. We train really hard together and I’m happy for him and the team to have us both on the podium.”
Jason Anderson: “I rode great this weekend. I came out with a 4th in the main. If I could just get a good start I could be battling for a spot on the box. I had a little bit of a sketchy moment with Reed on the double triple double. I thought he was going to go triple and I clipped his back tire and almost looped it. All in all I came out fourth so it’s not a bad deal. I’m just going to keep moving forward.”
Zach Osborne: “I started the night by crashing in my heat race. It was a tough night. I actually got a decent in the main, but ended up making an impatient pass and went down on the third lap. I came back to fifth. It’s a little bit of a bummer because I could have taken advantage of Cooper’s misfortune. I’m now only five points out of the points lead instead of 18th, which is where I was coming into this round, so it’s not that bad. I just have to keep charging.”
Marvin Musquin: Yeah, I actually started in third I think and then I got inside of [James] Stewart. I really wanted to get into second place right away to follow Ryan. I was like “here we are”. (laughs) That was a good feeling. I was just happy to be right behind Ryan and I was even thinking about the team when I was riding. Roczen put a lot of pressure on me—obviously he was faster—and he passed me. I tried to hold on to third place and they weren’t catching me from behind, so it was great. I made some mistakes and tightened up a little, but I tried to be consistent. I was actually by myself, so it was actually like training. It was a long main event for me and I was waiting for that white flag. (laughs) To get third, I’m pumped for the team and everyone that works for me. Rest of our interview with Musquin here.
Mitchell Oldenburg: “Tonight I finally felt like my speed really showed out there on the track. We’ve been working really hard and I can’t wait to get back out there next week.”
Ken Roczen: “We’re making steps in the right direction. I’ve been working really hard on my starts. We made an adjustment to the clutch, which seemed to work a lot better for me on the starts. I didn’t get the holeshot but I was still somewhere up front and it felt really good not to get blasted [by dirt] the whole time.
“I have to give it up to Ryan [Dungey]. Three in a row is hard to do, especially with how deep the field is. He’s been on point with his starts and doesn’t make any mistakes. Bottom line is that he’s doing really good at the moment. Last weekend we were third, now we’re second. We’re moving in the right direction.”
Christophe Pourcel: “I was pretty fast in practice. After four races it’s nice because now I know I have the speed. Racing was still tough tonight, though. I got a bad start in the first heat. I lined up all the way on the outside in the LCQ, so I had to be smart. I almost crashed a few times in the first lap, but I still made the main. I felt pretty good for 20 laps in the main. I charged to the front but made a mistake and crashed. Hopefully I can be ready to battle for the front after Daytona.”
Wil Hahn: “Overall, tonight was a huge improvement. My starts have improved which made my life a little easier in the Main Event, although my aggression was not quite up to par with my competition. We’re going to continue to put our head down and keep improving every weekend.
Christian Craig: “I thought tonight was my night to win. Worked on my starts last week and was confident on those. I pulled the holeshot in the heat race, but Cooper [Webb] was just on another level there, he got around me. In the main event I knew I had to get a good start and just try to run away with it. I ended up pulling the holeshot there, my first holeshot in a main event, ever, so I was pretty happy with that. Just focused on myself and tried to pull away as fast as possible, and on lap five I threw it away in a corner all by myself. That was it. Went back to sixth, fought my way back up. After holeshotting, I thought I could finally do it. Unfortunately, mistake on my part, but I learned. I know I can win now, it’s all just a matter of putting it together.”
Jake Weimer: “It was a good night,. A lot changed last week. In the heat race, I missed out from transferring straight into the main by one spot so I had to come through the semi. I got the holeshot in the semi, which was cool, had just a few mistakes but got into the main.”
Jimmy Decotis: “I struggled a little bit in practice and the heat, really struggled in the main event. Just couldn’t get in a flow. So I’m going to regroup and get ready for next weekend, that’s really all I can do now. Go punish myself in the gym this week, make up for it and get ready for next weekend.”
Eli Tomac: “The day was up and down for me. We couldn’t quite figure out bike set up on tonight’s track which fought against us all day. Although, once the night show came around and we took the win in the first heat, I felt really good and was ready to drop the gate of the Main Event. Unfortunately, a small mistake getting out of the gate held us back from our goal. The team and I will continue to work and come back in Phoenix rejuvenated.”
Jordon Smith: “Day was pretty tough for me, I had a crash at the practice track during the week and had an AC separation in my shoulder. Unfortunately a mistake by me in the main event cost me a pretty good finish. Just rehab the shoulder and get ready for next weekend.”
Chris Alldredge: “Today I felt the best on the track that I have all year. I have a great team and a great bike, but my results aren’t where they need to be. It’s time for me to put my head down and really focus, I’ll be training hard between now and Phoenix
Blake Baggett: “It definitely didn’t go as planned here in Oakland tonight. It was my first race back after a shoulder surgery. I felt pretty frisky in practice and got a really good start in the heat race. I was in fourth and then got into third and was battling. I got pushed high in a turn and went to seat-bounce a jump and just committed to the something I probably shouldn’t have, but it was in the heat of the moment. I got wheel-spin off the face and ended up endoing a rhythm triple and went down on my bad shoulder. From there the night was just tough. It [the shoulder] was just really sore. I’ll have to go back and rehab a little bit, but luckily everything I got surgery on is still good, just a little muscle sore.
Colt Nichols: “I passed Jordon Smith, then I’d seen that Christian Craig had fell. Right after that, I started to reel in Alex Martin a little bit and once he crashed, a lap after that I looked at the leaderboard to see how many laps we had left and it said we had eleven laps and I happened to see the big #69 was in third place. I was like, “No way, I’m going to podium!”. Then I say that Coop’s [Cooper Webb] bike had problems and I was like, “I’m in second place. This is unreal”. Honestly, after that were the worst few laps I’ve ever rode. (laughs) I rode so bad, I made little mistakes, I got tight, but I guess that’s expected for the first time. Now that we got that out of the way, I’m looking forward to next weekend to keep the ball rolling. My confidence is starting to build to I think where it needs to be, and everything is coming together for me.”
Cole Seely: “Yeah, a sixth is still a sixth. In a stacked 450 class, it is what it is. At the same time, I was in fifth and it took me a little bit longer than I wanted to get around [James] Stewart. Once I got into fourth it was such a big gap up to [Marvin] Musquin. I was trying to focus forward, but I was fighting myself, the bike, the track; I was fighting a lot of things. I went as hard as I could, for as long as I could and those guys [Jason Anderson & Chad Reed] were applying the pressure. I tried not to let it get to me and once Anderson threw a wheel in on me, I really didn’t have any more after that. I had to just kind of lay down and take it—it sucked. We’re going to go back, study the footage and see what we can make of it.”
Michael Akaydin: “[On what the week was like after getting his stolen KTM back] I never skipped a beat. Monday morning I woke up, went and rode, came home, ran four miles and did the same thing all week. The only difference was, I was a little more wore out from staying up all night. [On Oakland SX] The track was really fun tonight. It was kind of a mellow track and the whoops were next to nothing. I felt good all night, just clicking, catching guys I usually don’t catch and just really feeling good. I don’t know it it was from all the excitement going on last weekend. I ride well when I’m fired up about something. That’s probably what it was.”
Adam Enticknap: [The Seven-Deuce-Deuce] “Actually, I feel really good. That Rocky Mountain bike got me off to a really good start. That’s key for Supercross. I qualified 27th or four or five out of main event position, but getting those starts makes a big difference, because your riding with those faster guys out front and setting the pace right off the bat. That Rocky Mountain motor was killing it for me this weekend. I really believe that motor is what helped me get into the main event tonight. As far as the main event goes, I was a little bit bummed. It was my first main of the year, but I just paced myself way too much.”
Photos by: Hoppenworld – Interviews by Dan Lamb, Monster Energy SX & PR’s
