450 OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS | 2021 HOUSTON SUPERCROSS

The premier class is back for the last time in NRG Stadium before moving on to Indianapolis for the third round of the Monster Energy Supercross season. The track layout is different than the past two rounds with a sweeping right turn for a start and an extended sand section to throw the riders another curveball. Already in the first practice session we’ve observed slightly longer lap times than the previous two rounds. 5 plus seconds were added to each lap which for many riders, is a good thing. The faster the lap times, the more times they have to go around the track. And the more times they have to go around the track, the more deteriorated it becomes with lappers playing a larger role in the race. So with longer lap times, fewer outside factors come into play when time comes for the gate to drop. The track also proved to be more technical, with steeper jump faces and alternate rhythm sections. So get those early fantasy picks ready and predictions at hand as we report LIVE from Houston, Texas for the third round of the Monster Energy Supercross season.

FULL COVERAGE | 2021 HOUSTON SUPERCROSS 3

Photos by Brian Converse

450 OVERALL QUALIFYING

The 450 field is so close, Marvin’s lap time had him sitting in fourth in timed qualifying, then dropped to ninth after several riders only moved a tenth of a second faster.

Right off the get-go, Ken Roczen jumped to the front of the 450 pack to have a clear track and set the fastest qualifying time. Eli Tomac followed a second behind with teammate Adam Cianciarulo chasing in third. Cooper Webb there down a heater and made his way past the 2020 champ for the second place spot. Similar to the first round of qualifying, the field is so incredibly close, the top 10 positions flip-flopped every other lap. Eli Tomac grabbed the fastest time with Ken sitting in second and Zach Osborne in third. With four minutes left, the top 4 riders all sat within the same 47 second mark. Vince Friese went down in the whoops giving the rest of the riders a break during the qualifying session. The Alpinestars medical crew ran over to the number 40 and took him off on their medical rig. The riders lined back up on the track and had two minutes remaining to set their fastest lap time and Eli held on to the fastest lap time.

POS.	#	NAME			BEST TIME
1	1	Eli Tomac			47.432
2	94	Ken Roczen			47.579
3	9	Adam Cianciarulo			47.652
4	16	Zach Osborne			47.870
5	10	Justin Brayton			48.170
6	2	Cooper Webb			48.215
7	15	Dean Wilson			48.464
8	51	Justin Barcia			48.474
9	25	Marvin Musquin			48.599
10	7	Aaron Plessinger			48.702
11	27	Malcolm Stewart			48.767
12	21	Jason Anderson			48.787
13	36	Martin Davalos			48.876
14	14	Dylan Ferrandis			48.999
15	19	Justin Bogle			49.044
16	37	Benny Bloss			49.051
17	40	Vince Friese			49.208
18	17	Joey Savatgy			49.382
19	20	Broc Tickle			49.540
20	28	Brandon Hartranft			49.954
21	11	Kyle Chisholm			50.022
22	83	Alex Ray			50.936
23	81	Justin Starling			51.028
24	805	Carlen Gardner			51.409
25	722	Adam Enticknap			51.630
26	43	Fredrik Noren			51.659
27	606	Ronnie Stewart			51.785
28	280	Cade Clason			51.854
29	981	Austin Politelli			51.903
30	309	Jeremy Smith			51.944
31	330	Aj Catanzaro			52.055
32	184	Scott Champion			52.360
33	114	Nick Schmidt			52.449
34	57	Justin Rodbell			52.782
35	824	Carter Stephenson			53.026
36	848	Joan Cros			53.055
37	952	Ludovic Macler			53.552
38	282	Theodore Pauli			53.610
39	447	Deven Raper			53.650
40	121	Chris Howell			53.835

TOP 40 QUALIFY TO THE RACES

41	976	Joshua Greco			53.860
42	421	Vann Martin			54.215
43	501	Scotty Wennerstrom			54.500
44	795	Aaron Leininger			57.191

Justin Brayton qualified fifth in the second session.

450 GROUP A FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION

Cooper Webb scouting the track out before qualifying.

With the change of the tracks speed and technicality, we still saw some regular faces at the top of the leaderboard for qualifying. One face we did not see at the top was unfortunately Chase Sexton who is quite good at getting on top of the leaderboard but did not show up due to the injury he sustained last weekend. Ken Roczen jumped to the fastest qualifying time right away followed by Adam Cianciarulo. Zach Osborne then snuck past the 9 of Cianciarulo and took the second place spot. Factory Husky rider, Dean Wilson, moved up to the fourth place position followed by 2020 Supercross champ, Eli Tomac. With two minutes remaining, Marvin Musquin jumped up to the fourth place position and Justin Brayton jumped to sixth. The current red plate holder, Justin Barcia, sat all the way back in ninth place as he navigated the track and the 2019 champ, Cooper Webb, moved to fifth place. Every other lap the 450 class made small moves on each other inching by their lap times. By the end of the first qualifying session, Ken Roczen held onto the fastest qualifying time of the day with a 47.6.

POS.		#	RIDER		BEST TIME
1		94	Ken Roczen		47.653
2		16	Zach Osborne		48.103
3		9	Adam Cianciarulo		48.222
4		25	Marvin Musquin		48.599
5		2	Cooper Webb		48.657
6		15	Dean Wilson		48.809
7		51	Justin Barcia		48.871
8		36	Martin Davalos		48.876
9		10	Justin Brayton		48.982
10		1	Eli Tomac		49.016
11		37	Benny Bloss		49.051
12		14	Dylan Ferrandis		49.233
13		27	Malcolm Stewart		49.293
14		7	Aaron Plessinger		49.294
15		19	Justin Bogle		49.516
16		21	Jason Anderson		49.746
17		40	Vince Friese		49.751
18		20	Broc Tickle		49.931
19		17	Joey Savatgy		50.211
20		28	Brandon Hartranft		50.235
21		11	Kyle Chisholm		50.948
22		83	Alex Ray		51.294

Ken Roczen was the fastest 450 qualifier in the first session.

FULL COVERAGE | 2021 HOUSTON SUPERCROSS 3