In 250 free practice it was Jordon Smith fast early, then Cole Davies took over the top spot. Late in the session Haiden Deegan took over the top spot on the board with Smith and Michael Mosiman also in the hunt. Late in the session Smith struck back with another fast lap.
It was Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence and Jason Anderson as the top three early in free practice for 450s, Jett then did a quad in a rhythm the riders were working during yesterday’s press day. He jumped it and went to the top over Tomac, with Malcolm Stewart also showing speed.
For 250 timed practice, Deegan controlled the early laps then Julien Beaumer took it back and Deegan responded on the last lap to regain the top spot. Mosiman also logged a heater on the last lap took third away from Smith, with Enzo Lopes fifth in his return to
AMA Supercross! And rookie Drew Adams was sixth!
Jo Shimoda 19th but we visited him in the Honda truck and he indicated he’s racing no matter what. As long as he can stay precise and avoid clipping or over jumping he thinks he will tough it out.
But mistakes can happen and it showed in the next 450 session. Jorge Prado got it wrong in a rhythm section and crashed over a berm and into the net. He was attended to by the Alpinestars Medics and eventually got up…sporting a sling on his shoulder. That’s not a good sign for the MXGP World Champion.
[Update:] Race Day Live’s Hayley Shanley has reported that Prado suffered a dislocated shoulder in his crash. Later in an interview with RDL announcer Steven “Lurch” Scott, Prado explained that he went long over a quad and then crashed, and when he went to grab the safety net and it hurt his shoulder. He’s at least out for the night.
Eli Tomac was ripping early on top quickly, Jett Lawrence didn’t look sorted and was cruising, but where was Chase Sexton? He didn’t throw down a good time in free practice. He finally jumped up to second here, then Jett put in a fast lap but it was a second off of Tomac, but still good enough for second overall.
It looked like Tomac was gonna take it until the final lap when Lawrence threw down and took the top spot.
We’re witnessing some timing and scoring problems during the 250 sessions, so we don’t have times we can post here. Julien Beaumer was on top at the end of teh session, though, with Jordon Smith second. Haiden Deegan made some strange mistakes during that session and ended up third, but he does hold on for first overall based on his time in the first session. Jo Shimoda was able to tough out a decent score with 8th place in the group, impressive considering his injury.
In the final 450 session, Eli Tomac was ripping most of the way and on top of the board, but Jett Lawrence saved the best for last, uncorking a quad-in to a rhythm that no one else had done. Instantly, he went to the top of the board, .9 seconds ahead of everyone else. Big difference. Tomac tried to uncork one more heater but washed the front in a corner and crashed. Meanwhile we’ve heard Chase Sexton was under the weather a bit this week, and skipped riding on Thursday. He was third quickest.