With the red plate, Malcolm Stewart was the fastest overall—250SX and 450SX combined. Photo by: Chase Yocom
Week thirteen of the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, heads back East and inside the controlled climate of the beautiful Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The gate dropped on the inaugural Indianapolis SX Main Event back in 1992 and was dominated by Jeff Stanton aboard his factory Honda. This Saturday will mark the 25th time the best SX racers on the planet have met in the Racing Capital, but only the eighth time inside of Lucas Oil Stadium. The stadium may be inside, but the soft dirt and deep ruts give it an outdoor feel at times.
When qualifying got underway, it was a cold 35 degrees outside, but GEICO / Honda’s Malcolm Stewart had no problem laying down the heaters. Malcolm (46.906) shot right to the top of the leaderboard, and other than Star Racing / Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin—2nd fastest with a 47.569 —nobody got anywhere near the #50 Honda. Jeremy was actually on top of the board for about four minutes of the opening session, but Mookie was not having any of that today. Malcolm was so fast that Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers (48.820), in fifth, was nearly a full two seconds off of his pace.
The third and fourth fastest laps of the opening session were clocked by Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger (47.697) and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos (48.210). With Troy Lee / KTM’s Justin Hill sidelined with a head injury, Plessinger and Davalos are battling it out for third in the points at the moment. Davalos has a win, but with a DNS from Toronto, he is currently six points in back of Plessinger.
When the checkered flag waved on the final 250SX session of the day, Stewart was again on the top of the board with a blazing fast 45.490—also faster than any 450. For much of the final session, the #50 had over a second on the entire field, but on the final lap, J. Martin laid down a heater that showed Mookie he is not going to roll over for him. Malcolm leads Martin in the 2016 Eastern Regional 250SX Championship, and the last thing Martin needs is Stewart thinking he has everyone covered by more than a second. Martin is a two-time defending AMA Motocross Champion, and he knows that the Championship is as much a head game as it is anything else.
The third, fourth and fifth fastest laps in the final session were clocked by Bowers (46.846), Davalos (46.892) and GEICO / Honda’s RJ Hampshire. There were really no surprises inside the top five, but the sixth fastest rider, Cycletrader / Yamaha’s Luke Renzland (46.950) set his lap time in the group B session. Renzland has been out since the Atlanta SX opener, but he is obviously ready to go. It’s not easy setting a fast lap riding in the group B session, so we suspect that Luke has even more in the tank.
One rider we’re paying a little more attention than normal to today is Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Gannon Audette. Gannon got the call from Mitch Payton to fill in for the injured Arnaud Tonus and will hopefully grab this golden opportunity and run with it. In both session one (50.672) and again in session two (47.841), he was eighth fastest but ended up ninth overall with Renzland beating him out of the group B session. We’re sure the #61 wants and expects more when the lights go out inside of Lucas Oil Stadium.
250SX East Top 40 Combined Qualifying Times
Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow
In the first 450SX qualifying session, Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson (46.209) showed everyone how fast he was around the deep ruts in Indianapolis. Jason was nearly a half second faster than his training partner, Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey (46.826), and was one of only two riders faster than Mookie on the 250. Ryan currently has a 42-point advantage over RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen in second and a 58-point lead over Anderson in third in the 2016 450SX Championship standings. Dungey won last year’s Indianapolis SX and is hoping to move closer to clinching this Championship early.
Finishing the opening 450SX session with the third, fourth and fifth fastest laps were Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (47.027), Roczen (47.352) and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel (47.354). Pourcel is back after missing the last three races with a chipped vertebrae, and tonight’s deep ruts should suit the Frenchman well. Tomac and Roczen are two riders that also ride the ruts well, but Kenny missed this race last year while Tomac struggled to an eleventh in the main. Both should have no issue making their 2016 results better.
In the final 450SX session of the day, Pourcel (45.587) once again blew our collective minds. The Frenchman is unusually comfortable in the ruts, and despite being away from the series for four weeks, the #377 laid down the fastest lap of the day. Not only was it the fastest lap, but it was over three hundredths of a second in front of Dungey (45.922)—who was the second fastest rider. Pourcel’s best results in 2016 are a pair of eighth place finishes, and we have no clue if his qualifying speed will make any really difference in his results, but we hope so.
Clocking the third, fourth and fifth fastest overall 450SX laps were Roczen (45.960), Anderson (46.478) and HRC / Honda’s Trey Canard (46.488). All three tend to be better hard pack riders than rut specialists, but they need to finish in front of Dungey to see if they can slow the #1’s charge to the Championship down. Canard, who is fresh off his first top five of ’16, is desperately needing that first podium of 2016. The #41 is still looking for a home for 2017 and needs a podium to show he still can. Ruts or no ruts, the Honda rider needs to start performing.
450SX Overall Top 40 Combined Qualifying Times
Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow
