Supercross Statistics | Detroit in Numbers 1

2023 Monster Energy Supercross continues to deliver and, as a result, there are countless points of interest that emerge from the stadium each week. In this regular feature that has become a hit, throw yourself into some miscellaneous facts and statistics from the tenth round of the current term. This is a little lighter this week, as there was a timing issue in the main event and many sectors were not documented.

• Is the fact that Chase Sexton topped timed practice even newsworthy nowadays? '23' climbed to the top of the charts for the twenty-third time on Saturday, meaning that he has achieved the feat at thirty-five percent of the rounds since he debuted as a 250SX athlete. Sexton was the fastest qualifier by a margin of less than a tenth for the sixth time in his career. 00.030 is the smallest advantage that he has ever had (round one, his premier class debut, in 2021) in the daytime.

• To build on a statistic from previous weeks, Ken Roczen was in the top three in the timed sessions for the fourth week in succession. When was the last time that he achieved such a streak? This is a surprise, in the eyes of this scribe, but it was at the first four stops of the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross series. Yes, 2977 days have passed since '94' last had a streak like this. Two statistics into the feature and "flabbergasted" best describes the mood.

• Sexton is printed in the record books as the winner of Detroit, making him a three-time victor in the premier division. Nine is his career total. The latest triumph took his win percentage in 450SX to eight percent, which is the fifth highest of the active athletes. A win in Seattle would put Sexton equal with Jason Anderson on eleven percent and then Ken Roczen (seventeen percent) would be his next target.

• Sexton helped complete a Honda sweep of the main events in Detroit, but when was the last time that Honda did that? It was a while ago for the 'red' team. 1113 days, to be exact. It was at round nine of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross series, Atlanta, and Sexton helped deliver the sweep as the 250SX East winner. '23' was on GEICO Honda at that point though, so it was not quite as special as this past weekend.

• This very random statistic may help to paint a picture. The tenth that Sexton posted in Indianapolis was damaging, of course, and his current average for the term is a third. In comparison, Webb is sat on an average of second. What would it take for Sexton to drop his average down to the same figure? Well, he would have to win the next five events! Only after a fifth triumph would his average fall to second. Crazy to think about, huh?

• What would Eli Tomac have to do to drop his average to second? '1' has had an average of third across ten rounds, like Sexton, and would have to win the next four races in order for that average to fall. Remember that Tomac has one less podium finish than his opponents for the crown, Webb and Sexton, who are tied on eight apiece. Although he has five victories, he has ended in the top two less than Webb and the same number of times as Sexton. The more you know!

• Sexton was classified in seventh on the first lap. When was the last time that a star started so low (according to the lap chart) and still won the main? Well, surprisingly, it was not too long ago at all. Tomac was eighth on lap one in last term's Detroit main and won, after clinching the lead on lap thirteen. Tomac won that race with an advantage of 03.556, whereas Sexton had a margin of 06.335 on Saturday night.

• Detroit marked the first perfect day that Sexton has had on the CRF450R. When he won the main even in San Diego in 2022, he was not the fastest qualifier (insane) nor did he win his heat. Weird, right? The second win of his career came at a Triple Crown and he did not sweep the mains there, so here we are. Four of Sexton's six 250SX victories were perfect days, so this was the fifth of his career.

• Sexton did not log the fastest lap of the main event nor did he record the fastest average (that is controversial). Aaron Plessinger ripped the best time, 52.085, which was 00.481 faster than the time that Sexton recorded. Plessinger was so quick in the first half of the main that he actually set the five fastest times of the race on consecutive laps (two through six). It is hardly a surprise that his advantage climbed from 01.141 on lap two to 06.031 on lap six.

• The advantage that Plessinger had peaked at 07.636 on lap fifteen. Sexton slid into second place on lap eleven, so it is not like '23' started taking chunks out of him at the first opportunity. It was a steady decline from lap fifteen though, just as that table below suggests. Was Plessinger feeling the pressure or was Sexton simply quicker? Plessinger was suddenly lapping half a second slower than he was previously, whilst Sexton got his times back to where they were before lap ten.

• Remember the aforementioned point about Aaron Plessinger having the best average lap time in the main? Plessinger ran a 02:47.882 on the lap that he fell, yet that rather slow lap was removed from the calculation. So, for the purpose of clarity, this scribe will overwrite the AMA sheets and state that Chase Sexton was the rider who truly had the best average lap. It is odd to ignore a time that was recorded, no?

• Rewinding to the start of the 450SX main, it seemed that Plessinger would have to deal with heat from a few different guys. Tomac was quick at points and charging forward, but his progress came screeching to a halt after around eight laps or so. Why? There is no apparent reason but his sector times support the sentiment, as he ran the quickest times of the race in sectors one and three on lap four. Unsurprisingly, lap four was his fastest time of the race.

• Do you remember when Tomac got around Webb, then lost that spot on the following lap? It was a weird stage of the race – lap times were fluctuating so much amongst the top riders. Barcia was involved in that tussle too, of course, as he pounced on Tomac as soon as Webb struck. The table below covers that portion of the race. Its sole purpose is to reinforce the fact that momentum was swinging in many different directions.

• There is seemingly a problem with Tomac and his pace in the whoops each week. Tomac was the ninth-fastest rider in the whoops in the main (and oddly his best time came later than anyone else in the top twenty, lap sixteen). '1' was the ninth best in the whoops in Indianapolis and twelfth in Daytona. This is a pattern that cannot be ignored and must be taken to the man himself. What is the reason?

• This should really confirm that Tomac is not the man that he once was in whoops. The speed that he had in the whoops was comparable to privateer riders like Justin Starling and Kevin Moranz. It is just baffling, right? The best times from the whoops have been outlined in the table below, for your viewing pleasure.

• Much like Tomac, Justin Barcia was running a superb pace early in the main and then hit a wall. It was later put down to "getting tight" and that seemingly happened on lap ten. Take a look at the times that he posted around that mark. It is just so apparent. There is no hiding from the fact that his speed plummeted, is there? Could Barcia have won the main, had he maintained times in that fifty-three second range? Only Sexton managed to do that.

• Barcia still held on for fourth and therefore ended inside of the top five for the ninety-second time in his career. It was the sixty-sixth time that he has done that in a premier-class main event – that means that he has been in the top five in forty-six percent of his starts. Detroit was the seventeenth time that he finished fourth aboard a 450F machine, to be quite specific. Are these Barcia numbers doing anything for you? No? Time to move on…

• Christian Craig (sixth), Justin Hill (seventh), Josh Hill (tenth), Benny Bloss (eleventh), Josh Cartwright (fourteenth), Cade Clason (twelfth) and Chase Marquier (twentieth) secured season-best results in Detroit, Michigan. Jason Anderson (ninth), Aaron Plessinger (thirteenth), Dean Wilson (twenty-first) and Kyle Chisholm (twenty-second) had their worst finishes of 2023 Monster Energy Supercross.

• The fact that Craig was able to place his FC 450 into the top six helped Husqvarna end a drought, as the manufacturer went nine races without a bike near the front of the pack. When was the last time that they spent that long outside of the top six? Well, believe it or not, that has not happened since Husqvarna made their return to Monster Energy Supercross at the start of the 2015 season. It must have been quite a relief for them to edge closer to the top five.