Round 7 of the 2019 AMA Supercross World Championship series took place on Saturday inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas where Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team’s Dean Wilson scored a top-ten in the 450SX class with a solid eighth-place finish in the Main Event. His 250SX East teammate, Jordan Bailey, finished 12th after battling inside the top-ten for a majority of the race.
450SX
In 450SX Heat 1, Wilson piloted his FC 450 into a top-four position off the start and immediately began his charge for a podium position. He made the move into third on lap six but he dropped back to fourth on the final lap as he battled wheel-to-wheel all the way to the checkers, ultimately securing a fourth-place transfer position. In the Main, Wilson began in the 13th position and climbed his way into the top-10 by lap six. From there, Wilson continued to charge as he made his way into eighth just before the halfway point. He held strong in the final laps to ultimately secure the eighth-place position.
“My night was not amazing but not too bad either,” Wilson said. “I think the best part of my race was that I came through the pack really well and I passed a lot of good riders. By the time I got to the position I was in, there was really no one in front of me that I could catch so I ended up with an eighth. It’s not what I want but the beginning was promising with the speed I had. I just need to get a better start and get up there and we’ll be good. I’ll take it but we want to get on the podium for sure.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team’s Zach Osborne made his return from injury on Saturday for his career-debut in the 450SX class. After qualifying fourth earlier in the day, Osborne lined up in 450SX Heat 1 with some of the fastest supercross riders in the world. He had a great jump off the line in the heat race but he tipped over just after the start, beginning his journey back in 18th place. He quickly powered his FC 450 through the pack to bring himself into a ninth-place transfer position with three laps to go and from there he held strong to secure the final transfer spot. In the Main Event, Osborne got a top-ten start and worked his way into eighth early on. While going for the pass, Osborne overshot a berm and went down off the side of the track. Unfortunately for Osborne, his first-career 450SX Maim Event was cut short as a result of the crash.
“All-in-all, it was a decent day for my 450SX debut and there are some positives I can take from it,” Osborne said. “The result is obviously not what I wanted – I’d like to be top-10 or top-five coming back – but right now I think if I can get a good three or four weeks under my belt and really grind some motos in, I think it would be good. I’ve been riding for eight days after six weeks of injury and I feel like I’ve got a lot left in the tank as far as me being comfortable and being able to go out there and just hammer laps. I think prior to today, the most laps I’ve done in a day was something like 35, so it’s a big jump to today’s 55 or so. We’ll come back next week and just keep building.”
250SX East
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jordan Bailey got a top-five start in 250SX East Heat 1, where he settled into sixth on the second lap. On lap four, Bailey powered his way into fifth where he held onto a solid transfer into the Main Event. In the Main Event, Bailey secured a top-ten start and settled into eighth-place early on. He bounced around inside the top-10 for a majority of the race but a mistake on the final lap cost him a top-10 position as he remounted and salvaged 12th overall for the night.
“I had a good start to the day qualifying 10th and going straight to the Main with fifth in the heat race,” Bailey said. “In the Main Event, I got a good start and was running in eighth or ninth and on the last lap I made a little mistake and slid out. It was unfortunate but it happens, I just have to learn from it. Overall it was a good weekend, despite the mistake, but we had good starts and we just have to keep learning each weekend and look forward to Detroit.”
It was a tough night for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Covington, who failed to qualify for the Main Event at Round 2 of the 250SX East division. He got off to a top-five start in the heat race, where he dropped back to ninth on lap three. Halfway through, he had an off-track excursion that ultimately dropped him back to 17th and he was forced to line up in the last chance qualifier (LCQ). In the LCQ, Covington started off in a top-three position and ran into some issues making passes, thus missing out on a transfer position into the Main Event.
“It really wasn’t a good day,” Covington said. “I struggled a bit in practice and in the heat race I was in a qualifying position and I went off the track and fell way back. I had to go to the LCQ and went inside of a guy to pass him and wasn’t able to jump the triple so a bunch of people went by me and I ended up not qualifying. I’m definitely not happy with this but all we can do is move forward and head to Detroit.”
