Toronto Supercross - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

​After a year off of the schedule, we returned to the Rogers Centre this past Saturday for round ten of the Monster Energy Supercross series. Toronto is the only Supercross round held outside the United States, and that adds extra work for the teams and riders to get their equipment across the border. Luckily, almost all of the teams and riders made it to the stadium without any issues. As far as the racing goes, this week didn't see many surprises in the 450 class. Ryan Dungey minimized the amount of points he lost, while Ken Roczen got a much-needed confidence booster. The 250 class saw a huge shakeup in the main event, as a pileup off of the start put many of the top guys at the back of the pack. Justin Hill survived the chaos and was able to secure his first win of the season, but Jeremy Martin will hold the red plate heading into Detroit after putting in a tremendous ride to take second place. With all of that being said, let's get into the best and the worst of Toronto.

250 Class

The Good: Justin Hill | 1st Place

Justin was a question mark coming into the 250 East championship, after a rough season last year. Preseason reports said he was flying at the test tracks, but there was still a feeling of uncertainty around him considering we heard the same whispers leading into last year. In qualifying, he has proven that those preseason rumors were true to a extent. Justin has had arguably the most raw speed out of anyone throughout the first three rounds, and he definitely solidified himself as a true championship contender this weekend when he won the main event by twenty seconds. He looked fast, confident, and very smooth throughout the entire race. This win will give him plenty of momentum that should carry him to the top-of-the-box over these next few rounds. I believe the true test will come when Jeremy Martin and Justin both start up front, then we will see who has the edge to take this title, barring interference from Malcolm Stewart or Martin Davalos.

The Bad: Aaron Plessinger | 12th Place

Toronto was not kind to Aaron, as he started out his night with a rough crash in his heat and then proceeded to get tangled up in the first corner pileup during the main event. He was able to get up from the crash and climb his way back to twelfth, but that's not what he needs if he wants to stay in the championship hunt. Some people picked Aaron as the dark horse to win the title this season before Atlanta, but it just hasn't come together for him. He got a poor start at Atlanta, was sick at Daytona, and crashed off of the start at Toronto. The championship isn't completely out of his reach at this point, but it's slipping further and further away with each bad weekend he has had. Look for Aaron to come back strong in Detroit and get on the box.

The Ugly: Martin Davalos | DNS

I thought this was the year Martin would get it done. This would be the year he would finally win the 250 title that has eluded him during his ten year career. This is a situation, however, I never would have predicted. The official word as to why Martin missed Toronto was that he had a personal issue, but it appears it was a actually a visa issue. And if that is the case, I just can't believe that whoever was in charge of his papers didn't get this sorted before the season started. There's no doubt Martin is pissed about this whole situation and rightfully so, but I find it hard to believe that none of the blame for this falls on him. Unfortunately, there's nothing he can do about it now. He should just move forward and try to claim a much-needed victory in Detroit next week.

450 Class

The Good: Ken Roczen | 1st Place

Ken has had the speed to win all season and showed that speed this past weekend. Toronto actually marked his third win of the season, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the points standings. Ken stands thirty-four points behind Ryan Dungey in the championship chase, and that's not good news for the young German. The biggest thorn in his side this year has been his starts. He's started midpack and he's started dead last in more than one round. That's not something you can do when you are trying to win a championship against the likes of Ryan Dungey. Luckily, he got the train back on track with his win in Toronto, but he needs to keep it chugging along and click off several wins if he wants to challenge Dungey before the end of the year.

The Bad: Jason Anderson | 9th Place

Jason is another rider who has had the speed to win all season. He won A1 and got himself into the discussion for the title, but ever since A1 he's struggled to get back up front. And like Roczen, it's been his starts that have kept him off the top step of the podium. He's consistently started outside the top five and has struggled to slice through the stacked field. That brings us to Toronto, where unfortunately he had a decent start, but he got caught up in the carnage caused by Justin Bogle. He ended up getting stuck under his bike and could only charge back to ninth after getting up. This cost him more valuable points, and he's too far behind to really be considered a contender anymore. If Jason wants to change that, he needs to go out and get a win in Detroit.

The Ugly: Chad Reed | DNF

Chad's season has been up and down to say the least. There have been times where he has been on pace with Ryan Dungey, and there have been times where he has struggled to stay inside the top ten. Toronto has to be the lowest point of his season, though. He crashed off of the start and had to go get checked out at the medical area. At first I thought he may have injured his shoulder again, but the latest word is that he plans on racing Detroit. I really do hope he's alright and not attempting to race with a bad shoulder like he did in 2014, as that could be catastrophic for his year. Assuming he is healthy, I'm expecting for him to bounce back from this bad weekend with a podium or maybe even a win in Detroit.