After a one weekend break the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team headed to the Pacific Northwest to a rain-soaked Century Link Field in Seattle, Wash. for round 13 of the AMA Supercross Series. Constant rain during the week left the track covered in mud, and left riders and their motorcycles battling some of the toughest conditions AMA Supercross has seen in the last 10 years. Despite the tough conditions, the entire Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team brought home hard-fought top-10 finishes.
After posting the quickest lap in the afternoon’s lone qualifying practice, Jason Anderson headed to his heat race with the first gate choice. Jason launched his Husqvarna FC 450 Rockstar Edition off the gate and into the lead with a nice holeshot and began to pull away. He went down halfway into the race due to the difficult conditions and went back to eighth. He remounted and put in an amazing charge to move up to second in a mere two laps to transfer to the 450 Main Event. The Main Event gate drop once again saw Anderson leading the pack into the first turn and he immediately opened up a nice gap on the field. He went down in the fifth lap and lost the lead, but remounted in second and made every attempt to regain the top spot. He eventually finished second and retained the all-important championship leader red plate.
“The whole day was a little weird due to the delayed program,” said Anderson, “but practice went as well as it could have in the mud–I qualified first. I was up front in the heat race, but was pushing too hard so I pulled back. I ended up coming back to second. I was out front and riding awesome in the Main but had a bit of a hiccup. All-in-all I did what I needed to do tonight so it was good.”
After a tough qualifying practice, Mitchell Harrison showed the strength of his Husqvarna FC 250 as he powered through the deep mud to grab the holeshot in his heat race. He ran at the front all race long, eventually finishing third to grab his transfer to the 250SX West Main Event. As the main event gate dropped, he once again jumped out to a great start as he rounded the first turn in fourth. Mitchell battled the tough conditions lap after lap, fighting for every position all race long and turned in a seventh-place ride. His hard-fought performance would net him a new career best finish.
“It was a solid race,” said Harrison. “I got a good start and rode really well. I just messed up a little at the end of the race. Overall I feel more confident. I know it’s a mud race, and anything can happen, but I feel like my mentality is a lot stronger. I had two good starts, and I’m going to move on to Salt Lake.”
Fresh off a podium finish one round ago, Dean Wilson put down the third fastest time in qualifying practice which gave him a great gate choice for his heat race. He hooked up off the mud soaked start grates and jumped out to a great start to sit in the third spot on the first lap. He battled for position all race long, but a crash in the last lap on the difficult course dropped him to seventh by race’s end. He jumped out to a top-10 start for the weather-shortened, 12 minute plus one lap Main Event. He battled the muddy and rutted conditions and ran as high as eighth as he battled the elements and other riders during the grueling race. He crossed the finish line in ninth.
“Today was filled with tricky conditions,” said Wilson. “My qualifying was good, and I ended up qualifying third. I was trying to make the pass for third in the last corner in the heat race, but I got roosted and couldn’t see then fell. I ended up seventh in the heat. I thought I had a good start in the main but I ended up sinking in the mud, then got in a pileup in the rhythm section. I was in survival mode out there. Ninth is ok, and I’m looking forward to a dry race next weekend.”
