Ferrandis Scores Runner-Up Spot in Atlanta 250SX East-West Showdown

03-03-2019

Ferrandis Scores Runner-Up Spot in Atlanta 250SX East-West Showdown

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX East-West Showdown, which took place on Saturday night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, was not only a battle for points, but bragging rights in the sport’s 250 ranks. Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing team’s West rider Dylan Ferrandis took home top honors for the squad as he finished second on the night and, as a result, moved up to second place in the 250SX West Championship point standings.

The team’s lone East rider Justin Cooper finished fifth, while his teammate Mitchell Oldenburg had to sit out the night program after suffering an injury during afternoon practice. Ferrandis’ West teammate Colt Nichols finished seventh, putting all three Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing teammates in the top-seven at the finish.

Ferrandis had a roller coaster night, getting a bad start in the 250SX West heat race and had to fight his way back to seventh. In the Main Event, he was fifth out of the gate, the Frenchman putting his head down and steadily working his way past the competition to score second place by the time the checkered flag came out, his fourth runner-up result so far this season.Cooper finished fifth in the 250SX East heat race, and got a decent jump at the start, as he was third to the holeshot stripe. Heavy traffic then conspired to drop the New Yorker back to seventh, but he was undaunted and worked his way back to a top-five finish.

Nichols had an excellent result in the 250 West heat race in second, but unfortunately was unable to repeat that in the Showdown. He was sixth at the first turn, and he faced even more adversity when he got shuffled back to 10th.

The likeable Oklahoman recovered to record a seventh-place finish and score valuable points in the championship.

The Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing team’s 250SX East riders will head to the “World Center of Racing” as they compete next Saturday in the iconic Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, round 10 of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

Wil Hahn

Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing Team Manager

Tonight was up and down for the team, but we came out firing for the main events. Dylan rode a very strong race to finish second and for Justin at this early stage, getting another top 5 was great. Colt struggled in the main to get going and move forward, but he managed to score some important points and we expect him to bounce back in Seattle.“Unfortunately, Mitchell had a crash in practice that ended his day early. He is definitely sore and we will go home and take proper precautions and make sure he is good to go.

Dylan Ferrandis

Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing

It feels very good to be on the podium this weekend especially after a tough race last year in Atlanta. So I’m definitely happy about this race. I think I rode kind of tight because last year’s bad memories were a bit on my mind the whole day. But I made it through healthy this year and was patient during the main event, and was able to make it to the second position. This is a really good feeling!“The bike was really awesome. We made some improvements on it last week. I was feeling really good on it. I also worked on my starts and it paid off. The track conditions were not easy, a lot of ruts, the whoops were difficult to pass at the end, and the sand section was tricky, but now the pressure goes down and we can focus on the next round.

Justin Cooper

Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing

The bike was awesome all day. We didn’t play around with the settings much, I felt pretty comfortable all day with the bike. The track conditions were deteriorating every lap out there so it was pretty tough to hit your marks every lap, but all in all I’m very happy with both of my starts tonight, I just didn’t get aggressive enough through the first turn. I’m still making little steps forward each weekend and am happy with the progress. It was another solid night with positives to take away. It’s time to turn up the heat because we are hungry for more!

Colt Nichols

Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing

I just got a bad start on a night when I didn’t need to get a bad start. The bike was great. I didn’t really make any changes to it all night, but the track conditions were really tough. It was very, very technical and hard to do the same thing lap after lap. It made it really critical to not make any mistakes, and I didn’t do that very well. So I’m a little upset looking back on the night, but it’s all good. I still salvaged some decent points. Now it’s just get ready for Seattle.”