In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out in the seventh round of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship at Minneapolis.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) – Third:
These podiums don’t come easy this year so I want to enjoy it, even though I’m a little bit disappointed because I was right there and I lost some ground at some point. It took me a while to figure out what to do in the whoops and I was faster on the rest of the track. It doesn’t feel like I got third with the way the race went but this is racing and the competition is tough, so third tonight is great.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) – Second:
It’s nice to be back up here and back in the fight – a chance at running up front again. I have to give it up to the team, they found some good stuff this week. I’m still not where I want to be but it was a great night – we got a holeshot, led laps and a few crashes put me into second but I’ll take it. It’s been a rough start to the season and there’s light at the end of the tunnel, so we’ll take it.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) – Seventh:
Tonight was a step in the right direction. I had an alright start in the main Event and I just felt a little stale the whole race. I couldn’t really push forward and I was just kind of riding – a few people got by me and I got by a few people. We made a lot of progress this week, even though my riding isn’t showing how good the bike is working. We’ll go back to Florida this week, work on myself a little bit and be back for Dallas

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – First: 
The track broke down a lot by the main event tonight but, that’s something we kind of expect with some of the east coast tracks. I’ve been doing my best to prepare for it while practising in California by riding with the Pro Circuit team every Thursday to sort of simulate race conditions. That helped tonight but, this was still a tough track for pushing the pace, and you kind of just had to let the race come to you. It’s awesome to have three wins already in the season but, we will keep taking it one race at a time as we go forward from here.

Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – Fifth:
It’s cool to have the east coast guys back, I had a lot of fun with PB in the truck today! I was riding well in the heat, making a comeback and got a little whiskey throttle and ended up crashing, so that put me back pretty far. I had a bad gate pick from the heat race but I made the most of it in the main and put in a fight, it was definitely difficult! I struggled a lot, it was one of the harder nights riding-wise but all-in-all I salvaged a fifth, which was crazy because the ride didn’t feel that well at all. I’ll take the fifth and move on from here and keep on grinding.

Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – 11th:
The result is not what we want but I’m doing my best. In the Main Event, I didn’t have a great start but I just pushed as much as I could. Ninth-place was in sight and I pushed to the checkered and that’s all I had to give tonight. I just have to keep pushing and get that start and I know I can be inside the top-seven.

Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fourth: 
It was a good day today. I got my first heat-race win of the year, I’m really thankful for that one, and I felt real good all day. I got a really good start in the main and I felt like I was adapting to the track. I was riding my own race and I just made a big mistake with a few minutes to go, but that’s part of racing. I’m happy though, it’s another top-five and we were so close again! We’re going to take what we’ve learned from this race and move forward.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Ninth:
The day started out well with another good qualifying, but unfortunately, I was in a lot of pain in the main event after my two big crashes at the previous races. I did what I could and finished ninth. We’ll keep working and try for better next week.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Sixth:
Well, it was not the result that we wanted, but it was a good recovery for what happened and the position I was in on the first lap. So, after that, it was just fighting for a position and trying to move forward. It was a really tough track, as usual, but even more tough tonight because it was a mix of ruts and a little bit of a dry surface. That was it; It was unfortunate what happened, and I was just trying to do my best to come forward.

Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) – Eighth:
The first east Coast round was a tough night; the track was really difficult. The dirt was really tacky, especially in practice, where the track was super rutty and just really, really rough. I wouldn’t say I was the most comfortable, but this was the first time that I didn’t make any changes to the bike; I just tried to get used to it. This was the best I’ve been in the whoops, so that was a big plus for us, too. I had a decent start in the main event but got passed by Marvin [Musquin] early on. I was behind him for quite some time, but we kept a fairly close distance to the leader. That was good until I tried to pass and jumped a little bit too far to the left after the triple. There was some loose dirt there, and as soon as I landed I washed the front end pretty bad and went down. My bars were tweaked quite a bit and we only had a few minutes to go, so there wasn’t much we could do from there. It might not be the result that we wanted but there are some positives to take away compared to the previous weekend, so we’re going to build on that. It’s my first week back in Florida now, which I’m really excited for, and I think it will be a big help in the upcoming events.

Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 13th:
I qualified 11th, which was my best qualifying position ever in the 450 class. I’m definitely getting better and showing more speed. The night went well, I got a 13th. I still feel like I have more in me. I’ve just need to work out some kinks and nail some better starts.

Adam Enticknap (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – DNQ:
In the LCQ I started in seventh and ended up getting fifth. After last weekend, making the main, I just need to get that one spot, which shouldn’t be very difficult especially with the team I’ve got behind me. Dallas is a Triple Crown event so for practice this week I’ll ride some more 12-minute motos in a row and practice my sprints.

250SX

Image: Supplied.

Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Third:
With the short lap times, we had to do a lot of laps on a technical track tonight, so I did my best to lock-in. When competing against a class as stacked as this 250SX East championship, it was important for me to just focus on hitting my marks and execute each lap. I’m happy to get through the opening round with a podium and I feel confident heading into Arlington next weekend.

Austin Forkner (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Second:
A podium finish is always a nice way to start the season. I was the fastest qualifier in the timed sessions and had a decent heat race. I grabbed the holeshot in the Main Event, I’ve been focused on making sure my starts are on point this year, so I was happy with that, and I just tried to focus on putting together clean laps. There weren’t many obstacles to separate the front guys on this track, so it came down to minimizing mistakes. My laps were consistent and I’m glad to have come away with a second, we are still right there in the points.

Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – Sixth:
Today went pretty smooth for the most part. I got a heat-win under my belt, so that felt good. In the main event, I didn’t get the start I needed and I just had to play around with those guys back there, it was tough to make passes. That kind of dictated my night but I’m happy to come out with a sixth place. I’ve got some stuff to work on for next week but for the most part I’m stoked – I checked some things off the list tonight and I’m amped for next weekend!

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fifth:
We’re out of here pretty healthy and I feel good on the bike. All three of us were just kind of riding and we couldn’t really make up any time in the main. They were pulling me in the whoops and then I was gaining it back everywhere else. The mid-part of the main was my downfall, I had to back it down and figure some things out for five or six laps. I’m stoked on where we’re at and I know we can make a lot of progress moving forward.

Stilez Robertson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Seventh:
In the main event, I got a pretty good start and just tried to stay with those guys as long as we could. A little bit of off-the-bike time definitely shined through but it is what it is, we’re just going to try and get better every weekend and get back to where we belong.

Jeremy Martin ( Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Fourth:
I’m leaving here, and I’m healthy. The track was good in the end. From media day to the main, I was like, ‘Wow, what a difference!’ Everything was pretty peaky and wasn’t very smooth, so it just felt very foreign out there, and I was struggling. For the main, though, I got a better start, and I was definitely riding better – driving into my rhythms and my turns – but it just wasn’t enough. I made some mistakes out there, and I’m not happy about that, but I also reflect on last year’s season opener, which was bad. I dislocated my shoulder and was out the whole season, so I’m glad to log a fourth tonight. We’ll get back to work this week and go from there.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – Ninth:
Man, it’s chaos out there, and I don’t even feel like I was in that much chaos. I think today as a whole was really good for my first supercross. I had the speed; I just needed to be comfortable like I was in practice and apply that to the race. Also, as the track breaks down, I need to work on switching my lines up or just adapting to those rougher lines. I know what I need to work on so I’m happy and leaving here healthy. I saw a lot of guys down, and I know it’s a long season. I don’t like this result, but for sure, it’s something I can build on next weekend and the weekend after.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – First:
Today was a great day of racing. I had so much fun being out here and riding; the bike was awesome, and the track was actually a lot of fun. In practice, I just took my time and tried to not do anything crazy. I got a decent start in the heat race but got caught up a bit in the first turn, so I had to make some good passes to get second in that. For the main event, I just put myself in a really good spot to get the win, and it all came together. Overall, it was a good day and I’m super pumped, hopefully we can do the same at the rest of the rounds.

Derek Drake (BarX/ Chaparral Suzuki) – 12th:
It was my first race back and I was chasing my tail on the bike setup all day because of how soft the dirt was. In the main event I rode way too cautiously, and it hurt my overall finish. But it was good to get the first one out of the way and we’re ready to go next weekend!