ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING TEAM HAS A POSITIVE NIGHT IN ARLINGTON.
STEWART CARRIES HIS TOP-FIVE STREAK INTO MIDWAY POINT OF THE SEASON.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Malcolm Stewart has extended his top-five streak to seven-in-a-row following a positive performance at Saturday’s Triple Crown in Arlington, Texas. Scoring 5-6-3 results for fifth-overall at Round 8, Stewart continues a strong bid in the 2022 AMA Supercross Championship.
Known for being a strong force in the Triple Crown format, Stewart kept his FC 450 Rockstar Edition in the mix throughout the night. He grabbed a fourth-place start in 450SX Main Event 1 and quickly charged into the lead on lap three. He held strong for about nine laps until another rider came into him, causing both riders to crash. Re-mounting in fifth, Stewart finished out the last four laps in fifth.
In Main Event 2, Stewart charged from seventh to fifth in the first five laps and he maintained a strong pace inside the top-five. While coming through lapped traffic later in the race, he made a mistake and came together with another rider, losing a valuable spot to finish sixth.
In the third race, Stewart blasted off the line but he carried too much momentum and dropped back to seventh early on. He quickly rebounded and moved into fifth by the end of lap one. On a mission for the podium, it didn’t take long for Stewart to break into the top-three and he fought hard to secure a spot on the box. Stewart’s combined finishes of 5-6-3 earned him fifth overall on the night and he maintains third in the 450SX championship standings.
“It was a good night. We managed a fifth overall and it could have been better but honestly, it could have been a lot worse,” Stewart said. “I felt good in the first one but I got tangled up with another rider and finished fifth. I had a really bad start in the second one, completely my fault, I blinked on the gate and put myself in a bad position. The lapped riders were kind of tough and I came in with one and stalled my bike going through the finish. In the last one, I had a decent start and just managed the race. The good thing about the Triple Crown is that you can kind of save yourself – it’s like a throw away – so I think we’re just learning. We’re on a good streak and there are a lot of positives, so we’re looking forward to Daytona, a home race for me.”
Dean Wilson put together a solid night in Arlington, finishing 8-13-9 for 10th overall. Starting outside the top-10 in race one, Wilson battled his way from 12th to eighth, securing a season-best finish in eighth. In the second main, he had a great jump off the line as he battled in ninth early on, but he slid out and ended up 13th. In race three, he got off to an eighth-place start and fought his way to a solid ninth-place finish.
„My night wasn’t too bad, I felt like my riding was good and my starts have improved, which is something I’ve been working really hard on,” Wilson said. “Unfortunately, I washed the front in a slippery corner and ended up getting 13th in the second race, so that really hurt my points but we have some positives and we’ll keep working until we get up there.”
The 250SX East riders lined up for their first Triple Crown of the season and Stilez Robertson had a stand-out night for starts as he captured two of the three Main Event holeshots. Robertson came out blazing in the first race to secure the early lead for the first three laps before getting passed into third. From there, he battled just outside the top-five to finish eighth in race one.
In race two, Robertson secured another holeshot and led the opening lap before a hard-charging Jett Lawrence got around him. He stayed within the top-five battle for most of the race but he washed out the front-end with five laps to go, salvaging another eighth-place finish.
He got a top-three start in the third Main Event and settled into fifth on the second lap but he came together with another rider and went down, causing him to fall back to last early in the race. He fought hard to climb back through the pack, finishing 12th in the final race and 10th overall on the night.
“It was an okay day, we’ll definitely take the positives and keep going with it,” Robertson said. “We definitely have the starts down and the riding is getting better. The team is coming to Baker’s [Factory] this week to work on some things and try to get a bit better for Daytona and hopefully we can go there and redeem ourselves from last year.”
RJ Hampshire was on-track for a podium night in Arlington as he battled his way into a top-three spot halfway through the first Main Event. With a strong performance through the second half of the race, Hampshire scored his first podium finish in third. He got a top-10 start in race two and he was on a forward charge until he hit the rear-end of another rider and went down with two laps to go. Due to concussion protocol with the Alpinestars Medical Unit, Hampshire was sidelined for the third race of the night.
Round 9: March 5 – Daytona SX – Daytona Beach, Florida
Round 8 Results: Arlington SX Triple Crown
450SX Results 1. Eli Tomac (YAM), 3-2-2 2. Jason Anderson (KAW), 6-1-1 3. Cooper Webb (KTM), 1-4-4 …5. Malcolm Stewart – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 5-6-310. Dean Wilson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 8-13-9
250SX East Results 1. Cameron Mcadoo (KAW), 2-3-1 2. Jeremy Martin (YAM), 9-2-3 3. Jett Lawrence (HON), 4-1-10 … 10. Stilez Robertson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 8-8-1216. RJ Hampshire – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 3-20-20
450SX Rider Point Standings 1. Eli Tomac – 177 points 2. Jason Anderson – 171 points 3. Malcolm Stewart – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing – 149 points…11. Dean Wilson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing – 97 points
250SX East Rider Point Standings 1. Cameron Mcadoo – 47 points 2. Jett Lawrence – 47 points 3. Jeremy Martin – 42 points … 6. Stilez Robertson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 29 points10. RJ Hampshire – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, 25 points
Text/Bild: Husqvarna