Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis grabbed his second career 250SX main event victory at NRG Stadium. “It feels good to get two wins in a row,” Ferrandis said. “It gave me even more confidence in myself and my riding. Like I said last time, I really like the Triple Crown format. I just needed to be consistent tonight to get a good result. It’s what I did and I finally took the win. I’m now five points from the leader, which gives me a chance for the championship. We have the weekend off next week, but once again I will train hard to be ready for the final two rounds.”Brown Dog Wilson
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Racing's Dylan Ferrandis achieved his second consecutive 250SX class victory at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas this past weekend. The French rider's 2-1-2 main event finishes gave him the overall win and moved him within five points of series point leader Adam Cianciarulo heading into the next round.
“I’m so happy,” Ferrandis said. “It’s a different feeling than last weekend because last weekend was the first win, but now I’m really looking for the championship and only the championship can give me the full satisfaction. So I’m really happy, but it’s back to work [this week] and see what we can do in two weeks in Denver.”
Geico Honda’s RJ Hampshire finished second overall with 3-2-4 main event finishes. The result is not only a season best for the Florida rider, but also his first podium since his rookie year in 2015.
Geico Honda’s RJ Hampshire’s 3-2-4 main event finishes put him in second overall—a season best result for the Floridian. “Yeah, it was good,” Hampshire said. “My rookie year I made pretty big strides forward, then I had that TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) at the end of my rookie year. It kind of set me back, and honestly (since then) I’ve been just known only as an outdoor guy. People just kind of wrote me off on Supercross. I feel like I was in a good spot coming into the year and the first couple of races were decent. I had good speed and then I kind of fell into a slump. I don’t even think I had a top five the last four races. It was rough. We made some changes this week with the bike—huge improvements. I had good starts all night and that just kind of led to good finishes. I didn’t do anything special all day; I just kind of rode.”Brown Dog Wilson
“It’s been a long road,” Hampshire said. “My rookie year was my first podium and four years later I just got another one. I’m just stoked on my team. We’ve been working hard trying to find the right setting. We changed clutches this week, tested a lot on my starts, and you could tell my starts were better all night. I think that helped quite a bit. I was pretty strong in the whoops until that last moto. It was ugly. I’m just so stoked to be up here and really looking forward to Denver now. I’m kind of an outdoor guy, but I really want to prove myself in Supercross. I’ve got two more chances at it and [I’m] just stoked to be up here tonight.”
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Colt Nichols rounded out the podium after crashing out of last week’s main event. “The bike was great,” Nichols said. “We made a change to the suspension after the first main and it was great. A huge thank-you to the team for suggesting and making the change to the bike. The track conditions were awesome and the dirt here in Texas is great. [We had a] quick turnaround between the mains, so fitness was key and I was happy with how I felt all night. The main thing that hurt me in the first two mains was my starts. I finally got off to a good start in that last one with the holeshot. I almost rode a little tight in the lead. It just felt so good to win again. Overall, it was an awesome night in Houston.”Brown Dog Wilson
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo had an up-and-down night. He won the first main event, but crashes in the other two races forced him to come back through the pack. “There’s nothing more that I love than a good battle, especially a battle for the championship,” Cianciarulo said. “We still have the red plate and I felt so good today. My KX250 is so good and I feel I rode really well, so I’m super happy with where I’m at. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go my way tonight, but we have two races to make it happen and I couldn’t be more confident in myself. We’ll pick ourselves up and come out swinging. Let’s do this thing!”Brown Dog Wilson
JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Jimmy Decotis rounded out the top five at NRG Stadium. “I liked the track,” Decotis said. “It was technical and super tricky with big whoops. I enjoy the Triple Crown format because it gives you three chances of getting a good start and running up front. We made small changes to the bike, but they made a big difference. We didn’t change anything for the night program. I was running second and closing the gap on first, but then I tightened up. It’s good to know that I have the speed to win races. I want to end the series on a strong note and win one of these things.”Brown Dog Wilson
After crashing out of last weekend’s race, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Colt Nichols rounded out the podium in Houston with 5-4-1 main event finishes.
Geico Honda’s Cameron McAdoo matched his best result of the season with a sixth. “Houston had lots of positives again for me!” McAdoo said. “My starts were awesome, but then something happened each time in the first two races. Unfortunately, the first main, I had the holeshot, but then I hit a Tuff block and went down. Then in the second race, I got pushed off the track into the wall. I had to come from last in the first two mains, but our speed was there. The last race was solid. I ended up going 9-6-5 for sixth overall. I’m definitely seeing improvements every weekend!”Brown Dog Wilson
Gas Monkey Energy/AJE Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Justin Starling had a season-best finish in Texas with seventh overall.Brown Dog Wilson
Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Sean Cantrell went 11-7-13 for eighth overall.Brown Dog Wilson
“It was literally all about the start,” Nichols said. “I was really happy with the riding in the second main. I felt like I charged up really well, [but on the] last lap I hit neutral while I was behind RJ and went over the bars, and ended up salvaging a fourth, which was great. Then finally got off to a good start [in the third main where] I holeshot and was able to win. It was great; it just felt good to lead a race again. It’s been a while. I was in the lead last weekend and had a big get-off. I’m just really happy I’m here racing. It was a blessing. I’m glad last weekend wasn’t worse. [I’m] just taking it race by race. It feels great to be back on the podium. Hats off to Dylan with another win. It tightens up the championship a little more, which makes it interesting. I wish it was me, but that’s all right. I’m taking it race by race and can’t wait for the next one.”
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks finished in ninth in Houston. “The Triple Crown format always makes nights like these interesting, and the track really broke down by the last main,” Marchbanks said. “I was so pumped on my third-place finish in the second main; it’s just too bad I wasn’t able to get out front in the other two races. Overall, I’m pretty happy to land back inside the top 10 and looking forward to be heading into the last few weeks of the season healthy and more determined than ever.”Brown Dog Wilson
Gas Monkey Energy/AJE Motorsports/Husqvarna’s Chris Blose rounded out the top 10 on his FC 250. “Houston was an up-and-down day,” Blose said. “I started off the day qualifying third in practice. [In the first main event,] I got hit off the start from behind [and] my entire left arm went numb for a lap, [which made it] hard to ride, but I fought back to eighth. In the second main, I got a great start and was leading until [Ferrandis] and I came together and my bike got hung up on a Tuff block. It was a bummer because I was feeling great! In the third main, I was involved in a first-turn crash and again fought back to seventh for 10th overall. I’ve been riding great; I just have to keep pushing!”Brown Dog Wilson
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo and JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Jimmy Decotis rounded out the top five, respectively.
2019 Western Regional 250SX Class Championship Standings
