FOX RACEWAY NATIONAL PRE-RACE REPORT

2019 FOX RACEWAY PALA NATIONAL PRE-RACE REPORT

Round two of the 2019 Pro Motocross season is almost here. Instead of returning to Glen Helen for the second round, the series will head 80 miles further south to Pala, California, for the Fox Raceway National. The track that was formerly known as Pala Raceway partnered with Fox Racing in July of 2018 and undergone some major updates to improve the facility and host round two of the Pro Motocross series. Although it has been a few years, this isn’t the first time that Pala has hosted a National. In 2010 and 2011, the series visited the man-made track before returning to Glen Helen for the last seven years.

2019 FOX RACEWAY NATIONAL | FULL COVERAGE

After the Las Vegas Supercross, Fox Raceway held a Pro-only practice day at the newly renovated Fox Raceway and our videographer Travis Fant was there to capture the action. All of the top teams and riders showed up to the practice day to get a feel for the new layout and test their bikes for the 2019 Outdoor season.

Ken Roczen 2019 Hangtown 450 Moto 1-13After a two and a half year drought, Ken Roczen went 1-2 to win the overall and land on the top step of the podium at Hangtown. 

Ken Roczen certainly turned some heads at the opening round. While struggling towards the end of the Supercross season, Ken spoke about issues he was facing with his health. He wasn’t sure what the issue was, but he was feeling tired and he wasn’t able to train and practice like usual. This put Ken at a disadvantage coming into Outdoors where the riders compete in two 30 minutes plus two lap motos on some of the roughest tracks in the world. But Ken didn’t let the issues phase him at Hangtown. He was fastest in both of the timed qualifying sessions, won the first Moto and placed runner up in the muddy second Moto to win the overall. Coming into Fox Raceway Ken will have the red plate and new confidence after experiencing the winning feeling again.

Eli Tomac_2019 Hangtown outdoor motocross national-2123Eli Tomac went 4-1 to place second overall at Hangtown.  

There were high expectations on the defending Champion coming into Hangtown. Eli Tomac rode well, but he wasn’t dominant like many expected. Eli has always been fast at Hangtown, so it was a little surprising to see him battling back and forth with Zach Osborne for 4th place, instead of 1st. Eli came out swinging in 450 Moto 2 though, after battling with Ken Roczen early in the race, he eventually pulled away to a 43-second lead over Ken Roczen to win the Moto and place second overall. Coming into round two Eli is 4 points behind Ken Roczen.

Jason Anderson_Cooper Webb_2019 Hangtown 450 Moto 1-9Jason Anderson returned to racing after missing most of the Supercross season due to injury.

During a routine practice day following Round 3 of the AMA Supercross Championship series, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson broke his arm in two places, as well as suffering a fractured rib. This kept him out for the remainder of the Supercross season. Jason stated that he had only been back riding for 3-4 weeks before Hangtown and he was still able to end up on the podium with 2-5 Moto finishes. Look for Jason to continue to improve this weekend and throughout the early part of the season.

Cooper Webb_2019 Hangtown outdoor motocross national-1324Cooper Webb went 3-6 for 5th overall at the season opener.

The new Supercross champ was impressive at Hangtown. He battled back and forth with Jason Anderson in Moto 1 to finish 3rd, and he fought through the mud in Moto 2 and finished 6th. Cooper was fast at Hangtown and we expect him to continue to improve as he gets more and more time in on the Outdoor tracks. Since Cooper is new to the Red Bull KTM team, he doesn’t have as much time on the KTM 450 riding Outdoors. He also has been focused on Supercross more than most of the other riders this year because he was in the title hunt. While others were getting ready for Nationals, during the Supercross season, Cooper focused more on the tight and technical Supercross training. Now that Supercross is over, Cooper is back to work and focused on the next Championship.

Cooper Webb 2019 Hangtown Press Day-19Cooper Webb posted on Instagram after Hangtown:Crazy conditions at Hangtown yesterday for round 1 of @promotocross. Ended up 5th OA with 3-6 moto scores. Not the day I wanted but ready for a long summer! Have some work to do but good motivator for the rest of the year! Got 5th at A1 this year in the mud too… Thanks team”

Zach Osborne_2019 Hangtown 450Zach Osborne went 5-3 for 4th overall at Hangtown.

Zach Osborne crashed on the first lap in Moto 2 at Hangtown and fought all the way through the pack to pass everyone except Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen to finish the race in third. The 450 rookie picked up the pace at the end of the Supercross season and he has carried it into the Outdoors. Zach rode behind Eli Tomac during press day and in timed-qualifying and he kept up with the defending 450 Champion. Look for the 450 rookie to be battling at the front of the pack again at round two this Saturday at Fox Raceway.

Adam Cianciarulo_2019 Hangtown 250 Moto 2-12Adam Cianciarulo went 2-1 to win the 250 overall at Hangtown.

After a heart breaking ending to his 2019 Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo bounced back to win the overall at round one of the Pro Motocross season. Adam has spent most of 2019 training in California and he has spun many laps at Fox Raceway throughout the year in preparation for the 2019 Outdoor season. Adam is definitely comfortable on the loamy Pala dirt. Look for the #92 to be battling at the front again this weekend.

Ryan Villopoto 2019 YZ125 2019 Hangtown Best in the pits-4Ryan Villopoto’s Pro Circuit built Yamaha YZ125.

Another reason we are excited for Fox Raceway this weekend is because we get to watch Ryan Villopoto race again and this time with the red background on his YZ125. After commandingly winning the 125 All-Star race at Hangtown, we are wondering if RV2 will have any competition at round two.

2019 FOX RACEWAY NATIONAL | FULL COVERAGE

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