The first part of 2019 AMA Supercross season was an unforgettable one, as four different riders scored at least one win and led the standings. San Diego saw the championship lead go to Eli Tomac, but the pack is tighter than ever.
NO WIN SCORED BY KEN ROCZEN – Eli Tomac has changed his way to race, since he has abandoned the “full-attack mode” and become more rational. He’s not as quick as expected, but he’s mainly focused on scoring valuable points and it seems like his new strategy is paying off. Furthermore, the new Kawasaki has still much room for improvement and the American knows how important it is to be consistent. Behind him, Ken Roczen lays second in the standings, despite not winning any race yet. The German missed two opportunities to win (at Anaheim 2 and San Diego) due to his own mistakes, but he’s doing a great job, if we consider how better he started compared to the past few years. May he become the fifth 2019 race winner at Minneapolis?
THE FOLLOWERS – Slowly, but steadily, Marvin Musquin is coming back to the front after his knee injury. As well as Roczen, the Frenchman hasn’t scored a race win yet, but he seems ready to do it, as the two wins grabbed by his surprising team-mate Cooper Webb don’t seem to scare him. For what concerns Webb, the #2 KTM rider must work hard, if he wants to keep the momentum going. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget Justin Barcia and Blake Baggett, the winners of the first two races of the season: they keep being underrated (especially KTM privateer Baggett), but they’ve shown great speed so far…
JASON ANDERSON – Currently, the unluckiest team in the championship is the Husqarna factory one, since both Jason Anderson and Zach Osborne suffered injuries. While Osborne should rejoin the field at Minneapolis, the reigning AMA Supercross Champion has to wait a bit longer. Now, what really matters to Anderson is to be back to fitness by mid-May, when the AMA Motocross season starts.
DISAPPOINTMENT – Among the riders in the field, the list of those not meeting the expectations yet includes rookies Aaron Plessinger and Joey Savatgy, as they still can’t keep the pace of the front pack. However, the ones who have mainly disappointed so far are Justin Hill and Justin Brayton, who are still very far from the masters of the championship.
Translated by Alessandro Palma