2020 Salt Lake City One Supercross | Qualifying Report

2020 SALT LAKE CITY ONE SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

We’re really doing it! The 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series has officially started the seven-race program that will complete the 17-round championship as intended. It’s been an eventful few days in Salt Lake City, with everyone adhereing to the social distancing protocols that are mandatory for the races to be held at Rice Eccles Stadium but Saturday’s social protests just down the street added some more “is this for real” discussions to those of us in the paddock.

In an effort to expedite race day (which keeps the cost down and keeps people from being around each other too much unnecessarily), the entire event format has been overhauled. We arrived at the stadium early this morning because bikes were on the track for their free practice sessions at 8 AM. With two rounds of timed qualifying complete, we have an idea of how the field is ranked after the extended break from competition.

Oh, one quick thing about the track: it’s very mellow. Dirt Wurx did indeed build a simple layout for this first round as a way to ease guys back into the flow of SX and as an attempt to reduce injuries to the already limited field. The best times were quick in the qualifying sessions, with most in the 42-44 second range, so expect lots of laps in tonight’s Main Events.

2020 SALT LAKE CITY ONE SUPERCROSS | 250 EAST COAST REGION

Shane McElrath set the pace in both rounds of timed qualifying and the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider’s top lap was a 42.173 in the second session. Can McElrath “start” the second half of the season with a win like he did at Tampa?

Incoming point leader Chase Sexton wasn’t far off the pace, though. The GEICO Honda rider was second overall in both sessions, with his best lap being a 42.592 in session two.

Colt Nichols missed the first part of the season due to a shoulder injury, so this Salt Lake City race is his opening round. It didn’t take the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider long to get up to speed and he was third overall in the result sheet with a 42.806 time.

2020 SALT LAKE CITY ONE SUPERCROSS | 450 CLASS

It didn’t take long for the top two contenders in the championship to show their speed, as Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac popsted some of the top laps of the day in their practice sessions.

Roczen clocked the faster times on his Team Honda HRC ride, with his best being a 41.666 in the second season. Roczen was consistently quick, too, because he was ranked second in the first session. 

Tomac made major improvements between the two sessions, evident in the way he cut about three-quarters of a second off his lap times. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider went 42.485 in session one, 41.733 in session two, which put him second overall on the day.

Adam Cianciarulo is back in action after missing three rounds with a broken collarbone. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider picked up where he left off earlier in the year, because the 450 Class rookie was again one of the fastest in the big-bike class. His 41.842 time put him third overall and made him one of three riders that turned a lap time under 42-seconds.