American Chase Sexton put in a near flawless ride under some of the most brutal race conditions ever seen at a Monster Energy AMA Supercross race when he won the second round of 17 in San Francisco at the weekend.
The win moved the Red Bull KTM factory rider into the series points lead.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac navigated the deteriorating track to earn second place inside Oracle Park and that jumped the Colorado man from ninth to being tied for third place in the point standings.
Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s German rider Ken Roczen recovered from an early mistake to pass his way up to third place.
The event kicks off the season-long Love Moto Stop Cancer text-to-donate campaign as well as Ken Roczen’s Kickstart for a Cause bike sweepstakes, both to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Leading the race in a mud situation, it’s obviously where you want to be because you’re not getting roosted, but it also seems like it lasts forever,” said Sexton afterwards.
“The first couple laps when I was by myself and I wasn’t dealing with lapped traffic it felt, not easy, but I had a good flow and was able to hit my lines.
“Then once we got into lapped traffic, that’s when the race kind of starts and being able to pick around those guys is key … It’s tough not to make a mistake out there but I was fairly consistent every lap and was pretty happy with how consistent I was.”
The Western Regional 250SX class also held its second round and Jordon Smith took over the red plate and a five-point lead in the 10-round championship.
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen landed on the podium again, this time moving up one spot to earn second place.
Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha’s Garrett Marchbanks had to work hard for his third place finish after rounding the first lap in seventh place.
The series now heads south to San Diego for round three inside Snapdragon Stadium on January 20.
Each round pays championship points to both the 17-round Monster Energy Supercross series and the 31-round SuperMotocross World Championship.
After its launch in 2023, the SuperMotocross League combines the excitement of the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, the 11-round AMA Pro Motocross season, two playoff rounds, and one final to crown an overall winner in both the 450SMX and 250SMX classes.
Photo courtesy KTM
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