In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out at round four of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross championship, the first of three races at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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Image: Octopi Media

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) – First:
I actually nailed my start in the Main Event but I got shuffled back in the first few turns. The leaders just got out front and they rode awesome. I kind of got buried in fifth and it was hard to make passes tonight, you had to be patient and wait for some mistakes. I dug deep, AC [Adam Cianciarulo] and I had a good battle at the end and I was able to get third place but you can’t give Ken [Roczen] and Eli [Tomac] that kind of track position and we saw what they did tonight.

Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) – Tenth:
I felt really good with the bike all day and qualifying second was awesome. I was confident going into the Main Event and then waiting for the gate to drop, I think Adam [Cianciarulo] flinched, so I moved and the gate felt like it didn’t drop as quick as usual, which messed me up and my start was really bad. I tried to push as hard as I could on the first lap but it went from bad to worse – I had to jump off to the side of the track when a rider cross-jumped in front of me and I crashed again and lost more time. I put my head down and passed one guy at a time and I saw another opportunity to pass later in the race but I washed the front-end and went down again. I am super disappointed, I felt like I could have fought and come back, even with a bad start, to a top-five or on the podium but we’ll regroup. We have two days of rest and I just want to get back out there and do my best again.

Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – 13th:
I would say tonight was my most difficult night so far. My speed was good and my riding was okay but it just wasn’t what I needed tonight to be up front. We’ll regroup here in Indy and get back at it on Tuesday. I just need to put it all together.

Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fifth:
I had a pretty decent night. I got a second place in my heat race and qualified third from the day, so that was solid. In the Main Event, I went a little too early and hit the gate. I pulled it back and set my sights on getting far as I could, and I was able to make it all the way up to fifth. It was a solid night and solid result considering all of the challenges.

Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Seventh:
It was better than last weekend, I am trying to get better as the weekends go on. I got my first W of the season in the LCQ and just going to try to build off that and keep moving forward.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Sixth:
I had a good Heat race. I fought with [Eli] Tomac and finished fourth. In the Main Event, I had a good start and battled up front. It was good to be back in front because my last race in Houston wasn’t that good. I gave everything I had. I was in fourth fighting with Adam [Cianciarulo] for the podium and on the big double with the ruts, I got unbalanced a little bit and jumped on the side of the track. I had to go all around the corner outside of the track, so I lost a lot of time and some positions. I came back and finished sixth. It’s not great to be sixth but it was good to have a good pace, ride up front and fight for a podium. We’re going to learn from that and try to improve for our next race Tuesday.

Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Ninth:
It was a pretty good day overall. I started off free practice going really good and then come first qualifying practice, I tried to change the bike, which wasn’t really the right move. I just didn’t ride as well as I did in the free practice; the same with the second qualifying practice. In the Heat race, I got a bad start and then made a bunch of mistakes. I was coming through the pack and was one of the fastest guys, but you can’t do much with mistakes at the start. I need to minimize that.

Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – 11th
It was tough, honestly. I felt like riders were going down left and right. It was one of those tracks where I think if you just stayed up, honestly, I felt like your results came. It was a very tough track to push. It got to a point I think in the race we were riding against the track instead of each other. But Indy always throws curveballs at us. I feel like the next round won’t be as soft. For us, we just need to go out there and regroup and put ourselves back in a good fighting position. Definitely, 11th is not the way I wanted it, but on a bad night to come back from last to 11th on a tough track, I can vouch for it and take it as a positive.

Justin Brayton (Muc-Off Honda) – 12th
I didn’t get off the line as strong as I would have liked to and I ran into another rider in the first turn and came down. I got up in last place and it was hard to navigate safely through everyone, but we got it done and I managed to make enough passes to qualify straight through. Tonight, was a tough one, I felt we had good pace and we were comfortably battling with the second group.  The track was super technical and unfortunately, I came together with another rider in the main and crashed.  The positives are; we are competitive and its only round four.  We will regroup and focus on round five in a few days.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Second:
That was an eventful day of racing. We kicked off the day in pole position in qualifying and had a decent heat race working my way forward. In the main event, my KX450 rocketed me out the gate and I was able to get the holeshot which felt amazing. I began clicking off my laps, but I had a slight bobble at the end of the whoops and tucked the front end. I’m bummed that we fell short of the end goal, but really happy with my riding. I can’t thank my Monster Energy Kawasaki team enough for all their support. Let’s go get it done on Tuesday.

Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Fourth:
I wasn’t 100 percent content on my riding performance today. I felt like I struggled to find a flow, but there are still some positives to take away from the day. We led some laps, we battled with the boys, Eli [Tomac] and Ken [Roczen], and took another step towards our goal of getting on the top step of the podium. I am already looking forward to Tuesday.

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Image: Octopi Media

Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – Second:
It was a great night. I got off to a better start this time and I was right there with those guys. I haven’t been able to see those Star Racing guys a lot this year so it was really nice to catch a wheel and ride with them. We got into some really bad lapped traffic – guys who were all in a battle – so it was tricky out there and honestly I have some things I need to work on still but that pace isn’t crazy – it’s not out of my reach – and we’ll have a go at it again on Tuesday.

Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy  Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Third:
This wasn’t really how I wanted to earn my first podium, but I’m still thankful we made it here. I eventually want to earn it on my own and prove to myself that I am capable of being up here with these guys. I have a lot of positives to take away from this and hope to be in the running for the podium on Tuesday.

Colt Nichols (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)  – First:
It was just drama-free, which is just the way I like it. I finally got off the gate really well and controlled the inside on the first turn, which is something that was pretty key tonight. I really just tried to put in my laps, and once I got a big enough gap I could kind of see where Christian  [Criag] was, and also [Michael] Mosiman and Jett [Lawrence]. I was keeping tabs on everybody just so I knew if I needed to pick it up or whatever I needed to do. It was really just about managing the lappers. We got into them pretty thick again tonight. Overall, I felt like I just rode really well and was able to do my own thing. I did not have to be in a battle like I was in the first three rounds. So that felt pretty nice.

Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Fifth:
The day started off well in Indy and I was feeling good with the track. I won my heat race and went into the Main confident. I started second behind my teammate and was able to latch onto him for a bit, but once we got into lappers he got away. I made some crucial mistakes towards the end of the race and with two corners left I hooked bars with another rider and we both went down. I ended up fifth, unfortunately. I’m looking forward to Indy 2 on Tuesday for some redemption!

Mitchell Oldenburg (Muc-Off Honda) – Sixth:
I felt good in the heat race, my start was really strong. I didn’t achieve my goal of top five, but I was closer. I am getting faster and we are learning a lot. I feel with some little improvements we can be racing closer to the front.