Tomac showed strength straight away, qualifying third and finishing second in his heat race. When the gate dropped for the main event, he came out swinging and grabbed the holeshot, but the race was red-flagged after his teammate Ferrandis went down. He continued to lead the way but was unable to break away after the staggered restart and found himself under pressure from a championship rival. Tomac put his head down and set a blistering pace to remain unchallenged en route to his third victory of the season and expanded his lead in the championship to seven points.
Making his premier class debut at the fourth round of the season, Cooper continued to make progress throughout the day. He qualified 14th and finished seventh in the first 450 heat race, giving him a less-than-ideal gate pick. Undeterred, the New Yorker was 13th after the first lap and broke into the top 10 by Lap 3. The 2021 250SX West Champion kept his cool and ran his own race, making a last-lap pass to cross the line seventh.
Ferrandis got the day off to a great start, leading the way for the team by taking the runner-up spot in qualifying. He finished fourth in the first heat race, making for a difficult start in the main event with the eighth gate pick. The Frenchman was battling inside the top 10 and unfortunately crashed hard early in the race, drawing out the red flag. Ferrandis was evaluated on-site by the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Unit and, thankfully, was okay. He will seek further evaluation, and an update on his return will follow at a later date.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads to the Sunshine State for the fifth round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the SuperMotocross World Championship Series at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 11.
2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Houston SX Results
2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship Standings