The 55th running of the Daytona Supercross delivered a night of intense racing as Ken Roczen and RJ Hampshire etched their names into the prestigious winners’ column.
With all-time Daytona SX record holder Eli Tomac and rising Australian star Jett Lawrence sidelined due to injury and former winners Justin Brayton and Ryan Dungey retired, the event was primed for a new champion.
Designed by five-time Daytona winner Ricky Carmichael, the unique track once again lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest circuits on the US supercross calendar.
450SX CLASS
In Heat 1, Roczen took control early, overcoming holeshot winner Shane McElrath to lead every lap to the chequered flag. McElrath put in his best ride of the season, holding onto second, while Joey Savatgy continued to find his Australian championship-winning form, finishing third.
Chase Sexton delivered a stunning last-lap effort in 450SX qualifying, setting a blistering 1:17.983 to edge out Justin Cooper by just 0.1 seconds.
Germany’s Roczen briefly held the top spot, but Sexton’s earlier time from the first session remained the fastest overall.
Jason Anderson secured third, with Roczen in fourth and Cooper Webb rounding out the top five. One of the standout performances came from Coty Schock, who put his 250 Club MX Yamaha into 19th against the stacked 450 field.
Heat 2 was full of drama, with Webb going down in the first corner while Sexton—his main championship rival—grabbed the holeshot.
However, Sexton crashed hard in the rhythm section while leading, opening the door for Malcolm Stewart to take advantage of the chaos. Stewart led every lap for the win, followed by Aaron Plessinger in second and Anderson in third.
Webb remounted to salvage fourth, while Sexton did not rejoin the race, raising concerns about whether he would be fit for the main event.
Despite his heavy crash, Sexton was cleared to race and fought his way into the Main Event by winning the LCQ.
When the 450SX main event got underway, Anderson grabbed the holeshot, leading the early laps with Plessinger and Webb hot on his heels. Plessinger kept the pressure on and eventually made his way to the front, but Roczen was on the move, methodically picking off riders.
By lap eight, Roczen dropped his fastest lap of the race, using it to power into the lead. Webb soon made his move on Plessinger for second and set his sights on Roczen, but the German was riding flawlessly, leaving no opportunity for Webb to strike.
In the end, Roczen controlled the race to take a commanding five-second victory – his first-ever Daytona SX win. Webb overcame a stall to secure second place, while Plessinger rounded out the podium in third. Justin Cooper and Sexton completed the top five.
After a tough start, Sexton looked poised for a podium charge, but his earlier heat race crash seemed to take its toll, causing him to fade in the closing laps
“I still can’t believe it,” Roczen said on the podium. “I put my head down, had some really good lines, and was just charging the whole time trying to build a gap.
“Justin Brayton has been giving me crap for a long time because he has one of these (Daytona wins) and I don’t. This is a dream come true. We’re going to enjoy tonight!”
Webb was gracious in defeat, saying, “Yeah, it was. You can’t make mistakes, as many as I did, and expect to win, but Kenny rode great. He made a pass on me, got around AP, and that put the urgency in me, but I made too many mistakes.
“Yeah, another second place for me here. Hate to say it! But a good night for points. We’ll regroup and try to get it going again at Indy, and try not to be so complacent next weekend.”
Plessinger was happy to find form and podium at one of his favourite tracks. “Yeah I’m pretty satisfied after the start of the season,” Plessinger said. “I gotta give it up to the whole team, they’ve been behind me and believing in me, it’s been a ride but we pulled it off. I love this track, it’s a good night and I’m gonna go celebrate.”
Fastest qualifier Sexton displayed good pace once again throughout the main event despite riding battered and bruised, steadily climbing his way up toward the front and salvaging a fifth result, as well as invaluable championship points. He is still ranked second in the standings following Daytona.
“Daytona was up and down. I qualified fastest but crashed in my Heat, forcing me to qualify through to the Main via the LCQ, so it definitely was not my best night. In the end, I did what I could tonight, but just didn’t have enough in the tank,” Sexton said.
With his second-place finish, Webb extended his championship lead over Sexton to 10 points, while Roczen climbed to third in the standings, now just six points behind Sexton and 16 off the top spot.
250SX EAST CLASS
RJ Hampshire was on form from the start in 250SX East Coast qualifying, posting the fastest overall time with a 1:19.454.
The defending West Coast champ was followed closely by Levi Kitchen at 1:19.809, while Seth Hammaker clocked a 1:20.016 to secure third. Britain’s Max Anstie, who had been strong in the whoops earlier, struggled slightly with the smaller whoops in Q2, but still posted the fourth-fastest time at 1:20.199.
In Heat 1, defending champion Tom Vialle, from France, was untouchable, leading start to finish.
Anstie charged from fourth to second, while previous round winner Kitchen rounded out the top three. Heat 2 saw fastest qualifier Hampshire grab the holeshot and go unchallenged, cruising to a 2.5-second win over Hammaker.
Chance Hymas finished third, while Austin Forkner trailed another 14 seconds back in fourth.
When the 250SX main event got underway, Vialle grabbed the holeshot, but chaos struck behind him as championship leader Anstie went down at the first obstacle after a small touch with Vialle while Kitchen and Hymas battled over third place.
Vialle held the early lead, fending off Hammaker until Hampshire made his charge into second and set his sights on the front. By lap three, the Florida native powered into the lead, going toe-to-toe with Vialle before breaking away to take a dominant victory – his first-ever at Daytona.
Vialle rode a smart race, staying close and waiting for any mistake, ultimately securing a season-best second-place finish, while Hammaker made his first podium appearance of the season in third.
The race saw a scary crash for championship contender Levi Kitchen, who went over the bars mid race, ending his night with the medics.
A red flag brought a staggered restart mid-race for the second time this season, which helped Anstie recover from his disastrous start and fight back to sixth, salvaging his championship lead despite lacking podium pace.
Hampshire dedicated his win to his late father, saying: “I lost my dad a few months ago – this was the only Supercross we ever came to together. That one was for him, for sure.”
After charging to the main event holeshot, Vialle pieced together a measured ride throughout the race to claim second.
“I was close with the leaders tonight, we were going back and forth, but the track was super-tricky – if you missed a rhythm, you’d lose a second or two pretty easily,” the Frenchman explained.
“I think second place is the best that we had tonight, although I am happy with that. I’m happy to stay close in the championship because that is the goal.”
Hammaker fought his way through the top five, overcoming a red-flag restart and was satisfied with third place.
Despite his setbacks, Anstie retains his championship lead by six points, with Vialle moving into second. Chance Hymas now sits third, just a single point ahead of round winner Hampshire.
With round nine set for March 8 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the championship battle remains wide open in both classes.
Photo courtesy Suzuki
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