Eli Tomac was once again the man with the speed in Atlanta – Photo: Ryne Swanberg

The 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, is now eight rounds into the season, and Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey scored win number two at the 2017 Atlanta SX. After struggling to keep Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin behind him over the last four races, Ryan grabbed the holeshot in Atlanta and led wire-to-wire while Tomac and Musquin were forced to carve their way through the field after bad starts. Tomac was able to go from ninth to second, and Musquin was able to get up to fifth after a 13th place start. The final 450SX podium was occupied by Dungey (1st), Tomac (2nd) and Rocky Mountain ATV/MC / KTM’s Blake Baggett (3rd)—who scored his first podium of 2017.

In the battle for the fastest lap times of the night, Eli Tomac (51.926) was once again the man on top just ahead of Rockstar / Husqvarana’s Jason Anderson (52.046) and Musquin (52.167) who started 11th and 13th but finished fourth and fifth in the main. Eli was once again the fastest qualifier during the day (50.736) and the fastest in the main event, but an eighth place finish in his heat race stuck him on the outside for the main and left him struggling with a horrible start. The #3, the #21 and the #25 had the speed to win but were buried in the back out of the gate.

450SX Podium at 2017 Atlanta SX. Photo by: Ryne Swanberg
450SX Podium at 2017 Atlanta SX. Photo by: Ryne Swanberg

The start was more important than ever on the very tight and rutted Georgia clay. The fourth and fifth fastest laps came from Dungey (52.591) and Baggett (52.659). While the two KTM riders only had the fourth and fifth fastest laps, their starts had them running 1-2 the majority of the main event. In the end, Tomac pushed Baggett back to third, but Blake’s fitness and consistent laps scored him his first podium of 2017. Tomac’s push from ninth to second also gave him the fastest average lap time (52.937) of the night ahead of Dungey (53.135) and Baggett (53.289).

450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Top 10 450SX Times Top 10 250SX Times
1. E. Tomac – 0:51.926
2. J. Anderson – 0:52.046
3. M. Musquin – 0:52.167
4. R. Dungey – 0:52.591
5. B. Baggett – 0:52.659
6. C. Seely – 0:52.805
7. C. Reed – 0:53.172
8. T. Canard – 0:53.382
9. J. Grant – 0:53.518
10. J. Bogle – 0:53.520
1. Z. Osborne – 0:53.007
2. J. Smith – 0:53.164
3. C. Nichols – 0:53.468
4. A. Martin – 0:53.475
5. L. Renzland – 0:53.602
6. J. Savatgy – 0:53.784
7. R. Hampshire – 0:53.827
8. A. Cianciarulo – 0:54.083
9. F. Noren – 0:54.129
10. D. Ferrandis – 0:54.232

Full 2017 Atlanta SX results here>>>

Zach lights the candles for the first time in his career. Photo: Husqvarna
Zach lights the candles for the first time in his career. Photo: Husqvarna

In the second 250SX Eastern Regional Supercross Championship main event in Atlanta, the Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy had the red plate, but Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne got the start, had the speed, kept it on two wheels—unlike in Minneapolis—and rode away for the first win of his career. Joey did not get the start and was forced to try to pass his way to the front on a very deteriorated one-lined circuit. Savatgy was only able to get the #17 up to fourth and, with that, surrendered the red plate to Osborne. Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Alex Martin (2nd) and Star Racing / Yamaha’s Colt Nichols (3rd) finished on the podium behind Osborne.

The race for fastest 250SX lap in Atlanta was dominated by Zach Osborne (53.007) for the second Saturday in a row. The only rider really close to Zach’s lap time was Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Jordon Smith (53.164). For the second week in a row Jordon pulled the holeshot, but a run-in with his teammate Martin in Atlanta sent him to the ground and back to a fifth place finish. Smith is maybe the surprise of 2017 thus far and a win might be right around the corner.

250SX Podium at 2017 Atlanta SX. Photo: Chase Yocom
250SX Podium at 2017 Atlanta SX. Photo: Chase Yocom

A few ticks off the top two were Nichols (53.468), Martin (53.475) and Trader Racing / Yamaha’s Luke Renzland (53.602) with Savatgy (53.784) clocking just the sixth fastest lap at round two. The Atlanta circuit was tough to make time up on, and with the top seven riders all inside the same second, it’s easy to see why. Even with that, Nichols started sixth and finished third, and Savatgy started in eighth and finished fourth. The field is stacked in the east, but right now it looks like Osborne and Savatgy are the men to beat.


250SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

You can check out the top ten average 250 and 450 times from the 2017 Atlanta SX below. Scroll down to see how the main events broke down lap-for-lap with MotoXAddicts’ lap-time comparison charts. Also, see how the top 3 250SX riders matched up against the top 3 450SX finishers lap-for-lap.

Updated 2017 250SX West and 450SX Championship Points>>>

Top 10 450SX Avg Lap-Times Top 10 250SX Avg Lap-Times
1. E. Tomac – 0:52.937
2. R. Dungey – 0:53.135
3. B. Baggett – 0:53.289
4. J. Anderson – 0:53.332
5. M. Musquin – 0:53.377
6. C. Reed – 0:54.141
7. C. Seely – 0:54.478
8. T. Canard – 0:54.639
9. J. Brayton – 0:54.760
10. D. Wilson – 0:54.789
1. Z. Osborne – 0:54.095
2. J. Smith – 0:54.375
3. C. Nichols – 0:54.377
4. J. Savatgy – 0:54.513
5. A. Martin – 0:54.526
6. L. Renzland – 0:54.957
7. F. Noren – 0:55.283
8. A. Cianciarulo – 0:55.668
9. R. Hampshire – 0:55.742
10. K. Peters – 0:56.083

Ryan has taken a very smart and calculated approach to the 2017 450SX championship. Photo: Chase Yocom
Ryan has taken a very smart and calculated approach to the 2017 450SX championship. Photo: Chase Yocom

250SX vs 450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.


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Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.