Monster Energy® Kawasaki Riders Conquer the Conditions at Storm Stricken East Rutherford SX2023-05-11 11:41Monster Energy® Kawasaki riders arrived in East Rutherford, New Jersey for Round 14 of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship with the New York City skyline on the horizon and podium finishes on their minds. In the 250SX Class, the East/West Showdown format pitted the best-of-the-best against one another for a contest of the coasts that was shaken up by rapidly changing weather over the open-air stadium. The Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders braved the conditions to salvage three 250SX Class top-10 finishes with Carson Mumford in seventh, Jo Shimoda in ninth and Chris Blose 10th. In the 450SX Class, Jason Anderson fought back from an early race crash to earn a 12th place result while his teammate Adam Cianciarulo was sidelined from racing after a collision with another rider on the opening lap of the final qualifying session. In the 250SX Futures Class, Monster Energy® Kawasaki Team Green™ rider Ryder DiFrancesco raced to a smooth and consistent third-place finish. When 250SX Class practice began, the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki trio of Shimoda, Mumford and Blose were quick to take to the track. The leaderboard hosted green throughout each session while the KX™250 riders experimented with a variety of rhythm lane sequences and paced with each other for several fast laps. When the regionally divided qualification concluded, Mumford was fourth fastest (48.895) of the 250SX Western Regional Class while Blose was fifth (49.434) of the 250SX Eastern Regional Class with Shimoda (49.452) close behind in sixth. In the 250SX West Heat, Mumford emerged from Turn 1 just inside the top 10. With a few crafty moves through the opening turns, the No.52 KX™250 rider quickly established himself in fourth place. Despite Mumford’s crafty racing, it took him a few laps to find his rhythm and he soon found himself on the losing end of a battle with the current championship points leader before being overtaken by two more riders. Mumford made adjustments to drop his lap times in the final laps of the race and the California native crossed the checkered flag in seventh position. When the gate dropped for the 250SX East Heat, the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki duo of Shimoda and Blose launched themselves out to strong starts. Shimoda was fourth through Turn 1 but quickly moved to second through the opening rhythm lane and took control of the lead before the end of Lap 1. Meanwhile, Blose passed his way into fourth on the opening lap and soon locked into an intense battle with former MX2 Champion Tom Vialle. At the front of the pack, Shimoda managed his race wisely and logged consistent laps en route to earning his first career 250SX Heat win; a feat more impressively accomplished in just his second race this season and against the full gate of 250SX East competition. Further back, Blose showed his continuing progress as he prevailed over Vialle to claim fifth place at the finish. The 250SX East/West Showdown championship riders from both regions began loading the gate only to be accompanied by the emergence of a storm front filled with lightning and heavy rain, which triggered a rare mandatory weather delay. Fans in MetLife Stadium retreated to shelter while the 250SX Class competitors returned to the designated pre-race staging area. After nearly two hours of waiting out the storm, fans returned to their seats adorned with raincoats, plastic ponchos and whatever covering they could scavenge to brave the conditions for a final hour of action packed supercoss racing. Meanwhile, after some special preparations to themselves and their motorcycles, the racers lined up on the gate to face a track where ruts and traction had been replaced with standing water and deep mud. With the battle for 250SX Class supremacy on the line, Mother Nature was looking to play a leading role in the outcome of the night. A massive roar of support came from the crowd when the gate finally dropped for the 250SX East/West Showdown and the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders hydroplaned across the puddles toward Turn 1. With water splashing and mud flying, Shimoda, Mumford and Blose ran in ninth, 10th and 12th through the opening lap. While the trio were eager to climb their way up the running order, the treacherous conditions caused for wild inconsistencies through the opening laps of the race. All three of the KX™250 mounted riders shuffled back and forth around the tail end of the top 10 and even exchanged positions among themselves several times for a battle rich with excitement. Utilizing his long legs and aptitude for muddy conditions, Mumford moved his way up to sixth position while Shimoda and Blose progressed to eighth and ninth toward the closing stages of the race. At the same rate that the riders seemed to be finding their rhythm, the track matched with ever deepening ruts and an unpredictably slippery surface. When the checkered flag finally flew, the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders prevailed over the conditions to contend with the best of the East/West Showdown and secured three top-10 results among them; Mumford finished seventh, Shimoda finished ninth and Blose finished 10th. “Truthfully, my result from this weekend is a little bittersweet. I’m so proud to be representing the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team and, while I know that seventh in the East/West Showdown is a solid finish that shows our recent progress, I still wanted more. The next two riders ahead were within striking distance at different stages of the race, and I feel like I could have pulled off a top-five finish with just a couple of key moves in the middle of the race. All that said, it was a crazy mudder and I’m glad to have earned another solid top-10 result.” - Carson Mumford “The track was pretty tricky with a kind of softer dirt that had ruts and some sharp transitions as it broke down. When the track is like that, it is super important to be precise with your riding and hit your marks each lap, so that was my focus when it came time for racing. In the Heat Race, I had a strong start and led the whole race for my first Heat Race win. Even though I’ve won a Main Event, I had never won a Heat Race before so that was awesome; especially because it’s still only my second race back and against all the riders from 250SX East. For the Main Event the track was super muddy and that made it tough to come through the pack but, I just did my best to salvage.” - Jo Shimoda “I had another strong qualifying and heat race which I think reflect the continued work I’ve been putting in with the Monster Energy®/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. We are still pushing to get as much as we can from the last few rounds of supercross racing and I’m not settling. I believe we can secure a top-five finish in the coming weeks and, despite the crazy weather conditions and the gnarly mud, I think a top-10 finish in the East/West Showdown is indicative that we’re progressing toward our goals.” - Chris Blose DOWNLOAD 250SX CLASS IMAGES Monster Energy® Kawasaki riders Jason Anderson and Adam Cianciarulo kept on par with their recent impressive run through morning qualification as the two frequented the upper levels of the premier class leaderboard. Both riders gelled with the course quickly as minimal bike adjustments were made and they set their focus solely on finding the race pace. Anderson set the bar in last session when he logged a 47.707, the fastest lap of the morning, and earned Pole Position. Cianciarulo was running in third on the opening lap of that session when a rider ahead veered across the track and the two collided. Cianciarulo was able to complete the session and qualified eighth (48.933), but it was later determined that he would sit out the evening racing program. In 450SX Heat 2, Anderson’s KX™450SR rocketed him out to a third-place start and he quickly began pressuring the riders ahead. Within the first two laps, the top-three riders distanced themselves from the rest of the field and kept the intensity high as they contested for the Heat Race win. Capitalizing on a mistake from the rider ahead, Anderson moved into second position on Lap 3 and continued his pursuit of the leader through to the checkered flag, securing a second-place finish. As the 450SX Class prepared for the Main Event, rain continued to fall on the battered racetrack and water pools filled between the jump transitions. The start of the race was as critical as ever and Anderson found a gap through Turn 1 to work his way into sixth place entering the first rhythm lane. As riders swapped and swerved from one side of the track to the other, Anderson found himself dodging traffic in the opening sections of the track until contact with another rider through the whoops caused him to crash. By the time Anderson remounted, he was the last man in the running order and began his mud-covered campaign toward the front. The No.21 KX™450SR rider made steady progress forward through the pack as he navigated the extreme track conditions. In the latter stages of the race, Anderson was briefly as far forward as ninth position before several mistakes on the final laps relegated him to a 12th-place finish. “The day started off on the right track with the fastest lap of timed qualifying and second in the Heat Race. When the weather came through it was apparent the start was going to be a critical aspect of the race and unfortunately, I spun a little bit when leaving the gate. I was in the middle of the pack going down the start straight so immediately the mud and water just completely showers over you. From there it was an uphill battle and a crash through the whoops on Lap 2 put me clear out in last place. I kept my focus forward for the rest of the race, but it’s really tough to come through the field and get back in touch with the front group when the conditions are that severe. All in all, we’ll take the positives from earlier in the day and look forward to racing next weekend in Nashville." - Jason Anderson DOWNLOAD 450SX CLASS IMAGES In the 250SX Futures Class, Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green rider Ryder DiFrancesco looked at home on the challenging track as he executed the same rhythms as his professional counterparts. Prepared to show where he stacks up, DiFrancesco charged the track through his qualification sessions and logged the third fastest 250SX Futures Class lap time (49.415). In the 250SX Futures Main Event, DiFrancesco launched his KX™250 out of the gate to emerge from Turn 1 in second place. DiFrancesco followed the leader for the opening laps as he found his flow and settled into a pace. On Lap 4, the No.75 rider found himself fighting to defend his hold on second place and, after a brief battle, he relinquished the position. With a comfortable gap ahead of the next rider in line, DiFrancesco logged steady laps through to the finish to claim third place and earned his spot on the podium. DiFrancesco has an unparalleled level of success in the SX Futures Class with four prior wins and seven podium results in as many starts. “It’s great to be getting this experience on these tracks and I’m glad we got our race in before the rain came so we could get some clean laps. Those guys raced hard, and the pace was high, so I just focused on nailing my laps with consistent runs through the whoops and avoiding any costly mistakes. I want to be fighting for the win always, but it’s nice to have another podium and to keep building from the SX Futures experience.” - Ryder DiFrancesco Source: Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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