Image: Octopi Media.

A crash for the second-straight week while leading the 450SX main event has left Chase Sexton puzzled following Oakland, the Team Honda HRC rider uncertain what caused his topical mishap this time around.

The 23-year-old once again displayed his sheer speed is not in doubt, qualifying fastest for the fifth time this season ahead of the night show at RingCentral Coliseum.

Come the main event, the number 23 asserted himself at the front of the field once more, stretching out an advantage over Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) when disaster struck on lap 13 in an awkward crash directly after the finish-line. Able to remount in second, Sexton was ultimately able to salvage a third-place finish after being overcome by Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM).

“I wish I could tell you what happened,” he admitted. “I landed the triple and I literally had a two-wheel slide and there was nothing I could do. “After that, it is really hard to get back into a flow on a track like that. I had some good laps and then I was starting to get a little bit off-balance in the whoops, on the jump line.

“Cooper really just came at me really fast, and I was being very, very timid on the dragon’s back, which I didn’t feel comfortable on.

“Once I crashed I was just really trying to not make any more mistakes. Obviously, he caught me, and then after he got around me it was just survival mode basically. Up until the crash, I felt so comfortable and really smooth, I had a good flow going so got to go back to work and analyse what I did wrong and try and fix it.”

The incident in Oakland followed Sexton’s crash out of the lead at Tampa, both coming later in the race once the track had started to deteriorate. Positively for the CRF450R rider, he was able to limit the damage of each fall and score podium results on both occasions to trail red plate-holder Tomac by seven points entering Arlington.

“It’s very frustrating,” he continued. “Like I said, my riding and everything has been super-good, and the first 10 minutes I felt really in a comfort zone. I wasn’t overriding, I was hitting my marks and then that stuff… it happens. I’m still here, I still have an opportunity to come out next week to come out and prove myself or fix the wrongs that I made, so I just look forward to that.

“I think for me, just riding rougher tracks during the week, trying to replicate what I am racing on. It is very tough, obviously, but that’s the only way to get better. If we need to adjust the bike or I need to adjust myself, then that’s where I need to do it, 10 minutes into the main event. Positivity is going to be the fix and it’s what I am focussed on right now.”