Report: Genova Supercross
By Team TMX on 11th Nov 15
Justin Brayton claimed a hat-trick of Monster Energy Genova Supercross wins on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old American was simply too strong for a quality field and added the 2015 King of Genova title to his previous crowns from 2009 and 2012.
In front of a 15,000-strong crowd the BTO KTM rider holeshot the Super Final and resisted early pressure from Dylan Ferrandis who crashed trying to close the gap.
Cooper Webb (Star Racing Yamaha), Cedric Soubeyras (Yamaha) and Valentin Guillod (Standing Construct Yamaha) kept the pressure on the leader but Webb crashed out at two-thirds distance.
Ferrandis recovered for fourth ahead of Justin Bogle (Geico Honda), Broc Tickle (Soaring Eagle Suzuki) and Cyrille Coulon (Kawasaki). Best Italian rider was Angelo Pellegrini (Suzuki) who finished eighth.
Earlier in the evening Webb took the SX class overall with a 2-1 scorecard from Tickle and Bogle. Brayton won the first final but crashed in the second.
"The weekend was good,” said Webb. "I qualified third and in the first race got an okay start, made some mistakes and went backwards but passed my way into second.
"In the second I got a bad start and was coming through and some people crashed so I was actually able to win which gave me the overall.
"In the Super Final I had a bad start but was coming through. I got into second and was having a good battle with Ferrandis and was trying to catch Justin when I had a little crash with a lapper. I'm a little banged up but overall I'm happy.”
Suffering from the after-effects of his crash in the second final, Brayton had to dig deep in the last race of the night.
"It was really tough,” he said. "I won the first SX final and crashed in the second one pretty hard. But the last one means the most and I ended up winning it.
"I knew I had to pull a good start because the track was really deteriorating super-quick. I knew if I holeshot it and put in 10 really fast laps I could maybe get away.”
Nick Kouwenberg (JTech Honda) pulled the holeshot in the Lites final but was passed by Brian Hsu (Rockstar Suzuki) who stretched out a four-and-a-half second advantage over the 10-lap race.
Italian Francesco Muratori (Suzuki) was third.
Italian Morgan Lesiardo (TM) took victory in the 125cc class after a great fight with Stephen Rubini (KTM). The pair traded passes throughout the race before Lesiardo broke clear. Nicola Bertuzzi (Silver Action KTM) completed the podium.
Raffaele Giuzio (KTM) won the 85cc class from Alberto Barcella (Suzuki) and Mattia Capuzzo (Husqvarna).
