2021 Houston Two Supercross | Race Report

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2021 HOUSTON TWO SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Series is going to be a wild one. Riders returned to NRG Stadium on Tuesday for the 2021 Houston Two Supercross, the second race of the season, and it proved to be an eventful evening from start to finish. In the 250 East Coast region, Jett Lawrence claimed the first feature of his career, incoming point leader Christian Craig extended his gap on others in the standings, and Austin Forkner saw his chances at the championship take hit after a run-in with another competitor. The 450 Class was just as exciting, as the defending champion Eli Tomac rode his way to the Main Event win after early front-runners Chase Sexton/Adam Cianciarulo/Zach Osborne went down, Dylan Ferrandis scored the first podium of his big bike career, and Justin Brayton became the oldest podium finisher in the history of SX.

250 Heat One

As the first race of the night left the gate, Colt Nichols was off to the early lead, as Austin Forkner went down in the first turn. While Forkner began his charge through the pack, Nichols led Mosiman, with Oldenburg in third and 8 seconds back. However, Colt Nichols went down in the sand section while leading and gave the position to Mosiman. Colt rebounded quickly and took over second place. With just under two-minutes left on the clock, Forkner had already battled his way into a transfer spot. As the checkered flag waved, it was Michael Mosiman who grabbed the heat race win.

250 Heat Two

As 250 heat two left the gates, Jett Lawrence was off to the early lead with Christain Craig right alongside. The Rookie, Vohland, was trailing in third and Rj Hampshire sat behind him. Hampshire started pressuring the rookie for third place, but Vohland managed to hang on to the spot. A little further back in the field, Jo Shimoda was making moves as he passed into fifth place. Jett Lawrence remained out front and took the checkered flag first to snag the heat race win.

250 LCQ

Moranz was off to the early lead in the 250 LCQ with Simonson trailing in second. Schlosser made an early pass for second on Simonson. Moranz went down in the turn before the finish line and gave up the lead. Moranz now sat outside of a transfer position, but quickly dove to the inside of Woodcock and took over the final transfer spot. Schlosser, who was leading, went down and gave the spot to Simonson, who then has troubles of his own while leading. Neese now sat in the lead with two laps to go. Moranz had another mistake landing him on the ground and outside of the top-10. Luke Neese took the checkered flag first and snagged the LCQ win.

250 Main Event

When the gate for the 250 main event dropped, Jett Lawrence was off to a great start and the early lead. Austin Forkner quickly got around Hampshire for second place, but then made a mistake in the whoops and wasn’t able to jump the finish, shuffling him back to fourth. The Star Yamaha boys started making advances into the top-5, as Nichols passed Oldenburg for fifth and Craig followed. Oldenburg and Mosiman then began to battle for sixth, where Mosiman dove to the inside and completed the pass. Jett Lawrence remained in the lead with a three second cushion on Hampshire. Forkner began to pressure Hampshire for second place, just as Craig blitzed by Nichols for fourth. Forkner then took out Hampshire and himself, dropping them both outside of the top-5. Craig and Nichols then sat in second and third place, roughly 10-seconds back from Lawrence. Jo Shimoda made some advances and entered the top-5, just behind Mosiman. John Short and Osby were battling for tenth when Short got a wild kick in the whoops and flew off the track, luckily he saved it and stayed on his Suzuki. Back up front, Colt Nichols made the pass on Craig for second place. Jett Lawrence was the apparent guy to beat at the second round in Houston, as he crossed the finish line first and took the race win. 

450 Heat One

The first 450 race of the night was off and Marvin Musquin was off to the early lead, but Sexton quickly passed into the lead. However, the red flag came out as they came around the second corner, due to a first turn crash that involved Bogle. Bogle got back up on his own power and lined back up for the restart. 

– Restart

Sexton and Marvin were off to another great start, but it was Sexton who had the upper hand. Vince Friese had a nasty get off, that sent his bike flipping into the next lane, causing Ferrandis and Brayton to slam on the breaks. Following the drama, Sexton continued to lead, Marvin in second, and Ferrandis in third. Dylan Ferrandis started reeling in Musquin and pressuring for second place. After a few laps of challenging, Ferrandis was able to blitz past Musquin through the whoops and complete the pass as they exited the following corner. Malcolm Stewart began pressuring Brayton for fourth and was able to complete the pass with two laps to go. As. The checkered flag came out, Chase Sexton took his first 450cc heat race win.

450 Heat Two

As the final heat race of the night left the gate, Justin Barcia was off to the early lead with Zach Osborne trailing. Broc Tickle sat in third, but the Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates quickly made passes and set their sights ahead. Ken Roczen then made the pass on Tickle, as Cianciarulo began pressuring Tomac for third. Ken Roczen then closed in on the Kawasaki teammates, as they battled for the spot. Cianciarulo hit a quad and jumped by Tomac and into third place. Eli Tomac then attempted the same quad on the following lap, but cased it, allowing Ken to close in even more. As the checkered flag waved, Justin Barcia took the heat race win with Osborne and Cianciarulo just behind.

450 LCQ

Brandon Hartranft seemed to have the hole shot, but Vince Friese rocketed around the outside of the first turn and into the early lead. Broc Tickle made a move on Champion and passed into fifth place, one spot short of transferring. A lap later, Tickle passed Cros and into a transfer position. However, Tickle didn’t stop there, as he continued making moves and passed into third place. Jeremy Smith then tips over, while in the final transfer spot, and lags rebounding, allowing Alex Ray by. Vince Friese took the checkered flag first and snagged the LCQ win.

450 Main Event

As 450 riders left the gate for their main event Chase Sexton was off to the early lead with Adam Cianciarulo and Eli Tomac just behind. Cianciarulo was wasting no time, as he attempted to make an early pass on Sexton but would have to continue trailing for the time being. Barcia, Roczen, and Anderson sat outside of the top-10 early on and were forced to spend the beginning of their race charging through the pack. Cianciarulo went down in the sand section while running in second place, dropping him to 14th. Chase Sexton went down hard while leading and appeared to be hurt after bring launched off of the bike exiting the sand section. Joey Savatgy went down in front of the mechanics area and was out of the race. Marvin Musquin then went down in the sand. After all the chaos, Ferrandis and Malcolm Stewart were left battling for fourth place. Eli Tomac sat up front with four seconds over Zach Osborne, who had another couple seconds on Brayton in third. Dylan Ferrandis tripled from the inside of the sand section and into third place, as Brayton shuffled back to fourth. Ken Roczen had been pressuring Stewart, causing Malcolm to up the pace. The pair caught up to Brayton, but Stewart got stuck behind Brayton and miss-timed a rhythm, costing him a few positions. Cooper Webb then upped the pace to run away from Stewart and starting pressuring Roczen for fifth. Back up front, Zach Osborne had caught up to Eli Tomac and the battle for the lead appeared to be approaching. Benny Bloss went down and appeared to be hurt, as he was sitting on the side of the track. Zach Osborne went down before the finish line and dropped to 8th place after running in second. Dylan Ferrandis then moved into second place and Brayton into third. As the checkered flag waved, Eli Tomac took his first race win of the 2021 season.

Sexton’s crash proved to be an important moment in the night for a lot of riders. Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Vince Friese, and Martin Davalos were all docked points for jumping through the rhythm lane that was under the red cross flag warning. The points taken from Roczen allowed Justin Barcia to maintain the top spot in the point standings.