Supercross Statistics | 2024 San Diego 2

An air of fascination surrounded the third round of 2024's Monster Energy Supercross series. It could be considered the most bizarre race in recent memory, with a new victor and former champions in a bind. It is impossible to absorb all that happened in San Diego in one sitting. The race carried such depth – depth that made it a dream to dissect.

This 'Supercross Statistics' feature on Vital MX is designed to pave over the cracks and draw attention to points of interest that would have been missed. The two thousand words below will add additional layers to the viewing experience as the travelling circus that is 2024 Monster Energy Supercross marches on to the delight of the extensive fanbase.

• It would be remiss of one to mention that Ken Roczen claimed pole position because of an abbreviated program, because he was the fastest in the 'free' session too. Saturday marked the first time that '94' has taken pole since Monster Energy Supercross' visit to Daytona on March 06, 2021, which was just one thousand and fifty days before. It was Suzuki's first pole position since the second event of 2019's season in Arizona. Justin Hill was the polesitter on that occasion.

• It could be of interest to learn that Ken Roczen's pole position was Suzuki's twelfth in the last decade. Hill (2019), Roczen (2024, 2016 and 2015) and James Stewart (2014) contributed to the total. It is quite the surprise to learn that Roczen had just three pole positions in his last tenure aboard the RM-Z450 with RCH. Roczen's career total of pole positions is twenty-four (fifteen of those occurred in the premier division).

• Roczen's most common finish in qualification has been second – he has landed in that position twenty-four times aboard the 450F. Remember that he had six second places in qualification last year alone, but not one pole position. Second is his most common finish in a 450SX main event too: he has taken silver in twenty-five main events. How remarkable that the total is almost identical to how many times he has finished second in qualification.

• Eli Tomac clinched his best qualification result since round one of 2022's Monster Energy Supercross series, second. Saturday marked the one hundred and first time that '3' has qualified inside of the top three in the premier division, remarkably, which means that he has disappeared from the top three in just thirty-nine percent of his starts. Tomac has qualified in first place more than any other spot (forty-four times versus thirty-nine times in second place).

• Now that Suzuki has ended their drought without a pole position – that unpleasant run concluded at seventy-one events – Yamaha is the manufacturer that is the furthest adrift from their last period atop qualification. The last time that the qualification sheet was laden in blue was at 2022 Monster Energy Supercross' eleventh event: Eli Tomac was the fastest on that day and has not repeated the feat since. Note that GASGAS has never had pole position in 450SX.

• To recycle a point that remains relevant from the previous column: Chase Sexton weathered the storm to maintain his streak of top-three finishes in qualification. The streak is sat at twenty-four now. It has been some time since he last qualified lower than third. It was the thirteenth round of 2022’s Monster Energy Supercross series, to be exact, and that streak has helped him construct the following statistic. '1' has qualified in the top three in seventy-six percent of his premier class starts.

• Aaron Plessinger has slayed the demons that haunted him for the best part of the last twelve months, thanks to that dominant win in the main event. '7' won in his seventy-second start in the premier class – it was his one hundred and fifth start in Monster Energy Supercross. It was just his fifth trip to the 450SX podium. The last time that he won was in Seattle on April 07 of 2018. Two thousand one hundred and fourteen passed since that triumph in 250SX West.

• It was Roczen who was so effective in the initial moments of that main: he led the first seven laps and therefore boosted his career total to seven hundred and fourteen laps led (number is inclusive of both classes). San Diego marked the fifty-first time that Roczen has led a lap of a main event, which means that he has led at least one lap in thirty-two percent of his starts. The final result in San Diego, twelfth, was not as impressive.

• Although Roczen fell on lap eight, Plessinger was already making strides in the moments before that. It would not be outlandish for one to state that it was a matter of time before Plessinger clinched the lead, crash or not. It was in sector three, the whoops, where he gained the most, which was where he was the most productive in the heat race too. Roczen really wrestled with the circuit in that sector on the first three laps.

• Plessinger had the lead for around four laps before he had to start glancing over his shoulder: Cooper Webb started making inroads on lap eleven. Webb was quicker than Plessinger on laps eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen. The fifteenth and sixteenth laps allowed '7' to build a small buffer and then Webb pulled back in on the four laps that followed. Such a run was halted on the penultimate lap: his well-publicized altercation with Sexton was to blame (that was lap twenty-one).

• It was in the second sector where Sexton and Webb collided. Fortunately, the sector time helps identify just how much time was lost and that is highlighted below. Note that the time lost over the whole lap was more significant than in the Sexton debacle. Webb lost time to Plessinger in the two sectors that followed. Was that a case of being rattled by what happened at the very start of a lap or was Plessinger managing the race in an underrated fashion?

• Five different athletes can boast that they were the fastest on track at one point in San Diego. Roczen (three times), Plessinger (six), Jett Lawrence (three), Webb (eight) and Tomac (once) can count on that boost. Webb was the fastest rider on track on six of the last nine laps, so that best illustrates his run. Plessinger was the best on track on just two laps in the second half of the main event, in contrast, so the momentum shifted significantly.

• Lawrence was never in a position to make too much of a splash in the main, but he was rather effective in the middle of the race. The lap times that '18' posted in comparison to the race leader at that time can be found in the table below. Lawrence recorded the second-fastest time of the race and was one of just four riders to dip into the fifty-seven second range. Webb achieved that on four laps: Lawrence and Plessinger did it twice. Roczen did it once.

• The lap time that Webb posted on the very last lap deserves credit. Adamant that his shot at the win was still alive, he recorded a 57.766 and was 03.284 quicker than anyone else on track at that point. It was his third fastest lap of the race. The fact that he did his fastest lap of the main event later than anyone else is also of note. It was on lap eighteen. Who else did that late? Both Malcolm Stewart and Christian Craig performed at their respective bests on lap sixteen.

• There is little doubt that Tomac vacated San Diego feeling subdued, but he reached a milestone! The ninth position that he claimed in the main event marked the one hundred and fiftieth time that he has finished inside of the top ten in the premier class. Not only that, but it was also the one hundred and seventy-fifth time that he has appeared in the top ten in Monster Energy Supercross (number inclusive of both classes).

• It is incredible how Tomac 'turned it' on as soon as he was lapped on lap twelve of San Diego's race. The lap times in the table beneath this text confirm that he was floundering before latching onto the back wheel of Plessinger – he unlocked another level almost instantly. Is the swift nature in which he reacted not a testament to his sheer brilliance? Tomac posted his fastest lap of the race on lap fifteen, just four laps after he was lapped.

• There is just one athlete who has finished inside of the top five at each round of 2024 Monster Energy Supercross. It comes as even more of a shock that just five riders have featured in the top ten at each round: Sexton, Lawrence, Dylan Ferrandis, Tomac and Plessinger are those riders. Nine stars had done that after three rounds in 2023's Monster Energy Supercross season. That is quite the difference and testament to the current landscape.

• There is no doubt that this has never happened. In three rounds of 2024 Monster Energy Supercross, just two riders have not been lapped at all. Plessinger and Ferrandis are those two riders. Every other rider has had to acknowledge the blue flag at one point. What a bizarre term. Will a time come where every rider has been lapped? Time will tell. Two riders have fourteen rounds to make a mistake – the odds are high.

• Benny Bloss was the only star who made his first main event of 2024 Monster Energy Supercross in San Diego. Plessinger (first), Webb (second), Barcia (third), Hunter Lawrence (seventh), Dean Wilson (tenth), Fredrik Noren (seventeenth) and Cade Clason (eighteenth) achieved season-best results inside of Snapdragon Stadium.