Davalos holds on to red plate in Daytona
By TMX Archives on 6th Mar 16
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team raced the historic Daytona International Speedway on Saturday for the ninth round of AMA Supercross. Martin Davalos took home another podium finish, while Jason Anderson and Christophe Pourcel both earned top-10 finishes in 450.
Martin Davalos was coming off a 250SX East season opening victory aboard his Husqvarna FC 250 at last week's race in Atlanta. Feeling confident, he pulled the holeshot in his heat, led every lap, and took his second consecutive heat race win. He was fourth at the start in the main before quickly moving into third by the end of the first lap.
The top-four riders stayed extremely close at this point, with Davalos still riding strong in third place until the ninth lap where he started swapping positions for fourth. He kept the top three in sight until the very end and made an exciting pass in the last turn of the last lap to take third. The podium finish maintains his overall championship lead in 250SX East rider point standings.
"Daytona is more of an outdoor race,” said Davalos. "So there's always a lot of fast guys that show up. I was confident throughout the day, and I felt good. The bike setup was awesome. I'm mostly just trying to stick to my own race, and I think that's working for me. My heat race was awesome. I should have done a practice start for the main though, because my gate looked a little slippery, and I didn't get the best jump. I rode smart in the main. I was there the entire 15 laps, and put in a hard charge for the final two to salvage third. It's a long championship, and I just have to give my best every weekend."
Jason Anderson was seventh at the start in his heat and could only focus on moving forward. He was able to make one pass in the last lap, for sixth, and was forced to go to the semi. He got the holeshot in the semi, led every lap, and won, earning his spot in the 450 main. He pulled fifth at the start in the main before making the move for fourth in lap four. He rode solo the rest of the night and finished the race in fourth.
"I got a great start in the main,” said Anderson. "I found my way into fourth place and then was just by myself for the rest of the race. I got caught behind a lapper for five laps. Also, Pourcel's crash in the beginning of the race tripped me up a little and put way too much of a gap between me and the top-three guys, which made it hard to even get close enough to battle them."
Christophe Pourcel got the holeshot in his heat before moving to the second-place spot in the first lap. He stuck it out, finished second, and transferred to the main. He was third at the start in the main before going down in the fourth corner where he remounted in eighth. He spent the remainder of the race fighting for the position and held strong to finish eighth.
"I was second-fastest in practice,” said Pourcel, "so I got a nice gate pick for the heat. I pulled the holeshot in the heat, but then made a little mistake, so I ended up finishing second. It would have felt good to have at least won that heat. My start for the main was decent, but then Musquin made a mistake and ran into me so I lost a few spots. From there on I just did my laps and tried to stay in the top 10, which I did. I'm just trying to be stronger every week."
