This win was huge for Eli Tomac. Feature photo by: Octopi
The 2020 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship headed up North to RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California for round number five and the 2020 Oakland SX. While we had the two riders become two-time winners in both classes, both the championship points chases actually got tighter.
In the 450 class, it was Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac did not ride mistake-free, but he rode well enough to record his second win of the 2020 season. Tomac was joined on the 450SX podium by the defending 450SX Champ, Cooper Webb—who had by far his best ride of the year— and HRC / Honda’s, Ken Roczen (3rd).
In the 250SX class, the Monster Energy / Star Racing / Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis also took his second win of the season and wrestled the red plate away from his teammate Justin Cooper—who was battling sickness and finished in 3rd. The two Yamaha’s were joined on the podium by Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner in 2nd.
After the racing was over, we gathered numerous quotes from the riders in the pits and around the web talking about how their fifth Supercross of 2020.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450SX) “Wow, what a crazy night. We got a good start tonight and were able to get going right away. Had a good battle with Ken (Roczen) tonight, then got a little excited and missed my rear brake and went over the berm there. Luckily, I was able to recover quickly and charge back to the front. My KX™450 was straight up ripping tonight and we closed the points gap up to three points. I am feeling really good right now, and we are just going to carry this momentum into San Diego next weekend.”
Dylan Ferrandis: (1st in 250SX) “I’m pretty pumped about the way my day went here in Oakland. I finished first overall and took the red plate, which is awesome. It was such a good night for the team and myself, but we still have many races to go. So we’re back to work again Monday and will work hard to be ready for the next round in San Diego.”
Cooper Webb: (2nd in 450SX) “I think I finally just raced ahead tonight. I think I’ve been just kind of conservative and not laying it out there like all these guys have been so today/tonight was a much better direction and I fought hard the whole Main Event. I still need a little there at the beginning but overall I’m pretty happy and I feel like I’m in a good spot moving forward.”
Auston Forkner: (2nd in 250SX) “Tonight was a solid night overall, obviously I would have liked to take the win, but the lapped traffic tonight was no joke. I am happy with where my riding is, so this week we will make some minor tweaks and keep improving. I’ve had to dig myself out of a hole and while we didn’t make up any points on the leader tonight, we did move up to third in the standings. Ten points down isn’t too bad and something I can manage. I’ll keep grinding, chipping away at those points and continue to dig out of this hole. Overall, it was a great night for the entire Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team and we’re looking to finish next week off strong before the break.”
Justin Cooper: (3rd in 250SX) “It was another tough night for me but we were able to bounce back. I did what I had to do. I put in a lot of laps tonight, so I was pretty smoked in that Main. It was pretty hard to pass out there. I just took my time and focused on Alex (Martin). I’m just happy to get a good start and stay up when I hit Alex in that first turn. I have got to give it up to the whole team. We’ll go back to work and try and get back on top.”
Ken Roczen/strong>: (3rd in 450SX) “Overall I’m happy to be on the podium. I’ve felt pretty good in previous weeks and today was different. I just felt a little slow in practice honestly, and wasn’t really vibing too well with the track. It took me a little longer than normal to get comfortable and get everything down. With that being the case, I’m happy to have finished on the podium because it could’ve been worse. I’m definitely bummed I gave up some valuable points, but to still come away with the points lead is good. It was great to lead more laps, but I wasn’t the fastest tonight and made some big mistakes, especially toward the end, which were costly. It allowed Cooper [Webb] to close in; when you’re behind someone like he was, you can kind of pick your lines and set something up for a pass, which is what he did. Obviously, I’m not too happy about that but it’s racing. I don’t know what happened in the pass but somehow my foot got smashed or hung up and it was a stinger, but I’m not too worried about it. We’ll keep an eye on it and if I need to, we’ll get an X-ray to make sure everything is good. I’m looking at the big picture and we’ve been on the podium a bunch and are still in a good position overall.”
Adam Cianciarulo: (4th in 450SX) “For me tonight we made great strides and for only riding one time this week to see if my tailbone was good to go, I am pretty pumped with the result. I can’t thank the whole Monster Energy Kawasaki team enough for giving me a setup tonight that allowed me to do what I did after being a little banged up. I am looking forward to some more recovery this week and to come out swinging next week in San Diego.”
Jason Anderson: (5th in 450SX) “My night was alright. I think my heat race kind of messed up my gate pick and then I was on the outside so I wasn’t really able to be in the battle right away and once I got into fifth I was in no-man’s land so I just rode it in for fifth. We’ll move onto next weekend and hopefully put myself in a better situation.”
Alex Martin: (4th in 250SX) “All around better vibes this weekend in Oakland after a productive week of testing in North Carolina with the team. I was able to use that JGR Suzuki power and grab the main event holeshot. I led for a while before going back to third where I rode for the majority of the race before I got passed with a lap and a half to go, finishing fourth. Very bittersweet, but I’m happy with the progress that was made in just one short week with the team. I can’t wait for San Diego!”
Justin Barcia: (in 450SX) “We had an extremely solid week. We tested a lot on the bike. We had some work to do, but on Thursday I felt like I was in a really comfortable position coming into Oakland. Throughout practice all day we improved, and I felt the comfort kind of come, and that was a good feeling for me. I got off the start good in the Heat race, I was about third or fourth and then someone ran into the side of me and kind of set me back a little bit. Then I had to charge up to third and was really close to second and first, but unfortunately, we had a mechanical issue on the last lap, so that sent us to the LCQ. The LCQ win was a good confidence boost going into the Main Event. The only tough thing was we were on the far outside gate and for the start this weekend, we needed to be on the inside. I kind of got pinched off and I knew I had my work cut out for me, but my body felt super good. My fitness was awesome. I charged hard throughout the whole Main Event. I came from outside the top 10 up to sixth and was closing in on the guys in front of me. All in all, Oakland for me was not the result I wanted but my riding was awesome. I felt really comfortable on a track that was difficult. I’m really looking forward to next weekend.”
Dean Wilson: (7th in 450SX) ““I think the whole day was a little bit rough but I’m happy with how the Main Event went. In the heat race I had a problem and had to go to the LCQ, so it was a stressful day. But to get seventh I’m really happy with that – I moved forward and pushed to the checkered flag and that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve been working really hard to get back on my feet again, so it’s nice to see that I’m getting back to battling up there again.”
Luke Clout: (5th in 250SX) “We made some solid gains this weekend! I qualified fifth and then I led some laps in the heat race to finish 4th. I placed 5th in the main event”
Brandon Hartranft: (8th in 250SX) “Felt great all day. I was running 5th in the main until I made a mistake on the last lap and went down. Live and learn. Ready to come out swinging in San Diego before the break! ”
Zach Osborne: (11th in 450SX) “My starts were still good tonight, it was just a really frustrating finish after being in the top-five halfway through the Main Event. I need to work on some things this week and come out swinging in San Diego. I feel like I had a really good shot at a good finish tonight but I just kind of let it escape me there in the last half of the main.”
Aaron Plessinger: (12th in 450SX) “Oakland wasn’t really an ideal night. I struggled all day trying to find comfort and it showed in the Main. I got off to a mid-pack start and got passed a couple of times. I started making my way through the pack but made a mistake and a couple of guys got by me. I tried to just push forward from that point on and ended up 12th. We’re going to go back with the team and do some testing this week. We’ll get ready for San Diego, and I’ll try to redeem myself there.”
Cameron McAdoo: (14th in 250SX) “There were a lot of positives to take away from today. I was just so excited to be back out there racing with my Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. It felt like the longest two weeks of my life and then to come here to Oakland today and to get my first ever heat race win, I was just pumped. I obviously would have liked for things to go a little different in the main event, but I can’t beat myself up because we made some good progress. Winning that heat race only fired me up even more to know that is where I belong. We will keep the ball rolling and go get after it next week in San Diego.”
Michael Mosiman: (22nd [crash] in 250SX) “It was a tough night to say the least. It was good to be in front of the hometown crowd and I definitely felt their support and cheers around the track – this was a track I grew up coming to as a kid and now to race here at a high level is awesome. I learned a lot racing with [Austin] Forkner in the heat race and I came into the main with some confidence and speed. Overall, I had a lot of positives tonight but it was a rough go at it.”
Justin Brayton: (13th in 450SX) “Tonight was quite a bummer. I don’t know exactly where I was on the first lap, maybe around ninth, and I just got hung up with another rider when he stalled his bike in an off-camber turn. Once he got going, my rear wheel had dug a hole in the up-ramp, and I was stuck. By the time I then got going, I was 22nd by a long way back. I made my way up to 13th, which was about all I could do. It’s such a bummer because I feel like I’m riding really well at the moment and we had a great week at the test track. The bike is amazing and I’m really happy with the changes we’ve made and how it’s working. These bad starts just won’t cut it. These past two weeks I’ve just been terrible on the starts, so I need to be better about that. I think if I can get some starts like I did in the beginning of the year, I can get into the top five. I’m super-motivated heading into San Diego. It’s races like this that really motivate you to get back to work during the week.”
Kyle Cunningham: (19th in 450SX) “I’d say the weekend was a bit better despite the end result. Put it in the main out of the heat was good for me. I felt good during the main event, but I crashed and lost some valuable positions. With that being said, we made some good changes to the bike during the week and a lot of positives came from it. I’m looking forward to San Diego and building off this past weekend’s result.”
Adam Enticknap: (DNQ in 450SX) “Not making the main this past weekend was major disappointment. I need to get better starts in order to help myself be in a better position to make the mains. I’m right there, close to making it in. I want to get back to work Monday and make it happen in San Diego this Saturday.””
