The 2015 Monster Energy Supercross series visits a usual city but new venue on Saturday where Petco Park in San Diego hosts Round 6, the last West Coast date until April.
Since 2003, Chad Reed and Davi Millsaps are the only current 450SX riders with victories in San Diego, their wins coming at Qualcomm Stadium. Ryan Villopoto, racing overseas, and the FIM-banned James Stewart are the other riders who found success. Reed enters the weekend with six San Diego wins and Millsaps with two as both riders look for past magic to propel them to their first center podium of the season. Reed has one podium finish (third at Oakland) and is in eighth-place in the standings just three points ahead of Millsaps who has yet to recapture his near-Championship winning form from 2013.
Along with Millsaps' and Reed's past success, a new venue means writing fresh history so whoever stands tall on Saturday night gets their name first in the record books for Supercross at Petco Park. Coming into the weekend, Ryan Dungey is poised to take off in the points lead after a dominating first win at A3 where he already led the field entering the night without any victories through the first four Rounds. Ken Roczen missed the podium the last two Rounds after winning two of the first three and Trey Canard and Eli Tomac, tied in points for third-place, each have one win on the season.
Jimmy Albertson
On the homefront, MotoSport riders continue to have trouble getting in the Main. Jimmy Albertson has reached three Mains finding success at Anaheim twice and riding to 16th place each time. Nick Wey has only one Main this season and Adam Enticknap is looking for his first.
Fredrik Noren who rides for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing team vies for his final Supercross event in San Diego. The 2010 Swedish National Champion is best suited for Outdoors and will stay in California after Round 6 as a test rider for Honda and prepare for the Motocross Nationals.
San Diego is Fredrik Noren's last Supercross event for the year
San Diego is the final race for the 250SX West class which gets nearly a two month break before resuming in Houston on April 11. After this round West Coast riders only have three races left to make up ground or hold on to leads.
Another win for Cooper Webb puts him on the brink of runaway status. He has three wins and four podiums on the season after a sixth-place finish to start the year. His 18 point lead over Jessy Nelson isn't insurmountable but consistent racing to end the year should notch Webb the 250 West Championship. It's not a lock as Nelson has three podiums including a win at A1 and shows the muscle to close the gap. Zach Osborne is a close third with 87 points just six back from Nelson and 24 from Webb. Osborn has just one podium, second place at A1, and needs podiums the rest of the season to have a chance.
Josh Hansen wants a podium, badly
As for MotoSport riders in the 250 West, Josh Hansen has four Top 10s but has yet to reach the Top 5. He's in the Top 10 for points and climbing into the Top 5 is easily within reach, just 17 points from Justin Hill, who Hansen outraced in the last two Rounds.
Tommy Hahn, Noren's teammate, is in 11th place and has a tough climb to the Top 10. He's 15 points from Alex Martin, who has a podium and if not for a rough outing at Phoenix he'd be further up the leader board. Hahn finished out of the Top 10 in the last two Rounds and needs a surge for the last half of the season to make some headway in the point standings.
Tommy Hahn needs a good ride to get into the Top 10 for points before the break
Round 6 is also the second year for Military Appreciate Night as military members can save $10 on tickets using the code OPHOME when buying online. Additionally, a valid military ID gets a service member into the pit party for free.
Practice for Round 6 starts at 12 p.m. (PST) and the Main event starts at 6:30 p.m. (PST) Saturday at Petco Park in San Diego. Buy tickets online or at the box office, 100 Park Blvd. in San Diego.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (107)
- Ken Roczen (96)
- Eli Tomac (84)
- Trey Canard (84)
- Jason Anderson (74)
- Justin Barcia (71)
- Cole Seely (67)
- Chad Reed (57)
- Davi Millsaps (54)
- Blake Baggett (54)
250SX West Class Season Standings
- Cooper Webb (111)
- Jessy Nelson (93)
- Zach Osborne (87)
- Tyler Bowers (84)
- Justin Hill (78)
- Aaron Plessinger (74)
- Malcolm Stewart (68)
- Shane McElrath (64)
- Josh Hansen (61) - MotoSport rider
- Alex Martin (59)
