2019 Geneva Supercross | Saturday Night Race Report & Results

December 7, 2019

2019 GENEVA SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

PHOTOS | JEY CRUNCH

The 2019 Geneva Supercross will go down as one of the more eventful of recent memory. A slew of US-based riders used the race as a chance to cash in on promoter appearance money and race experience, while riders of the French SX Tour diced for spots in the much deeper than usual field, over two nights of competition at Palexpo center in Switzerland. Justin Barcia and Justin Brayton, two past Kings of Geneva, were widely favored to win again but found a formidable rival in Martin Davalos. The fight for top spot ultimately came down to Brayton and Davalos in a weekend-long battle that saw them exchange multiple block passes and race wins. Since the two tied on points for the weekend, Saturday night’s SX1 Main Event proved to be the deciding race.

Much of the attention in the SX2 class was split between visiting American Joey Crown and European traveler Brain Hsu, while further back in the field were championship contenders Thomas Do and Yannis Irsuti.

SX1 CLASS RECAP & RESULTS

Justin Brayton went to Geneva eager to extend his reign over the event for another year, but a pair of run-ins with Martin Davalos on Friday night had put the Team Honda HRC in a must-win position on Saturday night. The two found each other again in Saturday night’s Heat Race and bracket battles, and their newfound rivalry was on display during the single-lap sprints. During round one of the final match up, the two riders made contact and Davalos shot off the track, a move that gave Brayton the race win put them “even” after Friday’s fracas. It wasn’t the end, though, and they again banged bars at the start of the second race, which saw Davalos win. Brayton seemingly made it a point to get the holeshot and click off a perfect lap in the last head to head race, which gave him the “overall” win for the exhibition and stopped Davalos after the checkered flag to verbally discuss the multiple dust-ups over the past two days.

Davalos, meanwhile, repeatedly proved himself to be one of the fastest riders in the field on Saturday. He posted the best lap of the afternoon qualifying session, finished second in the Heat Race to Brayton, bested Cedric Soubeyras to advance to the final round against Brayton. Davalos won one of the three races and had the aforementioned talk with Brayton, but did not appear to be too rattled by the factory rider. Instead, Davalos snagged the holeshot in the Main Event and stretched out a sizeable lead in a small amount of time. Midway through the race, Davalos made his only critical error of the weekend and washed the front-end of his Kawasaki at the entrance of the sandy turn; he quickly remounted in third place but the get-off was the opening Brayton needed to take the lead and race win.

Though Brayton and Davalos tied on points through the weekend, 35 points each to be exact, the Saturday night Main Event win by Brayton was especially critical because it served as the “tie-breaker” and confirmed him as King of Geneva for the sixth time in his career, an unprecedented accomplishment at the long-running race. Davalos had to settle for second overall, but his performance over the course of the weekend has sparked plenty of discussions about his speed ahead of the 2020 season.

Justin Barcia ended the weekend a solid third overall, thanks to a pair of second-place finishes in both Main Events by the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider. Although he was not in the spotlight as much as Brayton and Davalos, Barcia narrowly missed the overall win and finished the weekend with just less one point than the other two contenders.

The SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda crew had a mixed weekend in Geneva. Malcolm Stewart seemed to struggle with starts in the Main Events and was unable to make up time on the leaders around the tight and obstacle-packed track. He charged from outside the top-10 to fourth place in Saturday’s Main Event, a result that fourth overall on the weekend. Vince Friese led laps, showed speed, and stayed consistent for a pair of sixth-place finishes in the weekend’s two Main Events, which put him sixth overall for the weekend. Justin Hill experienced a hard crash in the middle of the weekend’s last race and pulled out in the early laps.

Cedric Soubeyras was the highest finishing “full-time” competitor of the French SX Tour, an accomplishment that helped him close in the on SX1 series championship. The Team 2b Moraco rider won his Heat Race in dominant fashion and showcased his skills in rutted conditions, then went on finish fifth in the night’s Main Event. Nicolas Aubin entered the weekend as Soubeyras’ main rival for the title, but experienced a number of issues through the two nights and did not score a single point. Aubin’s misfortune and Soubeyras’ success put 44-points between the two riders with two Main Events left to be run in the season.

SX2 CLASS RECAP & RESULTS

Joey Crown claimed the Prince of Geneva honors for his multiple wins through the weekend, which was capped off with Saturday night’s Main Event win. The American rider worked his way into the lead early and then clicked off a series of consistent and quick laps that allowed him to pull clear of second-place rider Brain Hsu. Crown joins a long list of riders from various countries that have held Prince of Geneva honors in the past.

Brian Hsu has spent the past year getting back into form after injuries and his riding at Geneva indicated that he’s close to full speed. Hsu missed the first four rounds of the French SX Tour, but has won four of the five Main Events since joining the series. He is now within fourteen-points of the top spot in the championship standings with two races to go, a tall order but possible considering the current battles between the front runners Thomas Do and Yannis Irsuti.

Do and Irsuti spent the Main Event in a tight fight of their own, but were much further back in the field than either likely would have hoped. Do came into the night up only a handful of points to Irsuti, and the two exchanged a number of moves on each other for spots eight and night in the running order. Irsuti eventually got around Do and worked his way up to fifth place at the checkered flag, while Do finished in seventh place. This allowed Irsuti to close the gap in points and the two are now tied heading into the end of tour. Calvin Fonviellie stands to be the spoiler in all of this, as he avoided any sort of issue through the weekend, finished fourth in Saturday night’s Main Event, and is behind the leaders by a single point.