Kawasaki Stays Resilient in Santa Clara

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge was excited for Round 15 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM Championship at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. After Alldredge finished fourth in his heat race, he was poised for a great race in the main event. After getting a good jump out of the gate, he got together with another rider entering the first turn and he went down hard, knocking him out of the race. In the 450SX main event Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsport’s Chad Reed got a great jump out of the gate and battled for the lead early, but an early crash forced him to ride through the field to an eighth place finish. Mafia Moto Crew Kawasaki rider Nick Wey had his best finish of the season and put his KX™450F in the top 10.

Ride Through the Field
After winning his heat race, Reed looked like a contender for the main event win after getting through the first turn near the front of the field. The Australian passed for the lead in the opening lap and after getting passed back on Lap 2, he crashed in a rhythm section while fighting to retake the lead.  Reed remounted his KX450F in 21stplace and worked hard to ride all the way up to eighth on Lap 20.

What Could Have Been
Alldredge came into Santa Clara looking to get his first podium finish of the season. He felt good during qualifying and rode a solid heat race,  giving him a lot of confidence heading into the main event. With a good jump out of the gate, Alldredge stayed on the throttle heading to the first turn when another rider cut in front of him. The abrupt move caused him to crash, snapping his handlebars in two and knocking him out of the race.

“Mitch (Payton) told me I need to be more aggressive and stay on the throttle,” said Alldredge. “I was right there and as we got to the first turn, but then I got cut off and had to get on the brakes which sent me to the ground. I felt really good and I think I could have run with the leaders during the race.”

Heat Race Win

After having a couple of crashes in practice and entering the night show a little battered and bruised, Reed rode a smart race in the heat to earn a win. Reed was running a solid second when the leader made a mistake and Reed capitalized for the victory.

“When you are as invested as much as my team is, you want to get the win every time you are on the track,” said Reed. “I was able to see the leader make a mistake and I knew I could hold on for the heat race win.”

On the Way Out
With only two more events left after the Santa Clara race, Wey made a strong statement, winning a semi race to advance to the main event. Wey got a good start and rode a great race leading all five laps of the semi to take the win. The Michigan native parlayed the semi performance into a top 10 in the main event, his best finish of the year.



New Stadium
Levi’s Stadium made an impressive debut on the Monster Energy Supercross schedule and Alldredge had the honor of being the first rider to take to the track as part of the event’s press day on Thursday. Besides riding, Alldredge also travelled to Comcast Sports Network for a segment on Yahoo! Sports Talk Live.

Bright Lights, Big City

Monster Energy Supercross heads back to the New York area for its second visit to MetLife Stadium in the East Rutherford, New Jersey.  It is the final round of the Eastern Region and Joey Savatagy will be back on his KX™ 250F for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team.

Results

Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM Championship
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Saturday, April 18, 2015

450SX Class Results

1. Ryan Dungey, KTM
2. Eli Tomac, Honda
3. Weston Peick, Yamaha
4. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
5. Cole Seely, Honda
6. Blake Baggett, Suzuki
7. Justin Brayton, KTM
8. Chad Reed, Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports Kawasaki
9. Andrew Short, KTM

1. Ryan Dungey, KTM, 343
2. Eli Tomac, Honda, 258
3. Cole Seely, Honda, 239
4. Chad Reed, Kawasaki, 212
5. Trey Canard, Honda, 204
6. Blake Baggett, Suzuki, 190
7. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 188
8. Broc Tickle, Suzuki, 168
9. Ken Roczen, Suzuki, 164
10. Andrew Short, KTM, 156

1. Cooper Webb, Yamaha
2. Justin Hill, KTM
3. Alex Martin, Yamaha
4. Malcolm Stewart, Honda
5. Shane McElrath, KTM
6. Jackson Richardson, Honda
7. Aaron Plessinger, Yamaha
8. Matt Bisceglia, Honda
9. Tommy Hahn, Honda
10. Scott Champion, Yamaha

1. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 186
2. Shane McElrath, KTM, 124
3. Zach Osborne, Husqvarna, 117
4. Justin Hill,, KTM, 116
5. Aaron Plessinger, Yamaha, 113
6. Alex Martin, Yamaha, 111
7. Malcolm Stewart, Honda, 107
8. Jessy Nelson, KTM, 106
9. Tyler Bowers, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki,105
10. Josh Hansen,Motosport.comKawasaki ,91