Steve Cox | March 25, 2017
2017 Detroit 250cc Supercross Results: In one key way, the 250cc Regional Supercross Championships can be harder to win than the 450cc title. The reason being that the 250cc titles are each decided in only nine main events. One mechanical failure or other catastrophe, and the odds of winning the title can go down the tubes no matter how dominant a racer is.
2017 Detroit 250cc Supercross Results
We got to see an example of that tonight in Detroit, Michigan, which marked round six of the 2017 250cc Eastern Regional Supercross Series. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne has been by far the most dominant racer in the series to this point, winning three of the first five rounds with his only finish off the podium coming in Daytona, where he finished fifth coming from behind.
But in Detroit, Osborne may have had the one disastrous race he couldn’t afford, and through no fault of his own. After the gate dropped for the main event inside Detroit’s Ford Field, LCQ winner Jordon Smith, of the TLD/Red Bull KTM team, came screaming in from the far outside aiming for the apex of turn one, and when he got there, he clipped Osborne’s front wheel, sending Osborne and KTM privateer Dakota Alix careening to the outside of the turn, where they also collected GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig.
Once they got up, Osborne circulated slowly, and was forced to pit to have his front wheel changed out, putting him way, way behind the lead group. Osborne would eventually finish a dismal 18th place.
Out front, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo snatched the early lead in front of fast qualifier Dylan Ferrandis (Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha), Cianciarulo’s teammate Joey Savatgy, Smith, and Ferrandis’s teammate Mitchell Harrison.
Ferrandis put the pressure on Cianciarulo early and nearly went by on the opening lap. On lap two, Ferrandis pushed Cianciarulo wide past the mechanics’ area, but lost his drive into the ensuing rhythm section, allowing Savatgy to get a run on them. Ferrandis took the lead just in front of Savatgy, but only one turn later Cianciarulo came back in on Ferrandis after the finish line and pushed him wide, allowing Savatgy to sneak up the inside into the lead.
Cianciarulo seemed incensed by Ferrandis’s early move, and pushed him wide again a couple turns later, nearly allowing Smith by them both, but not long after that, Cianciarulo lost the front end in the turn after the finish line and went down, handing second place back to Ferrandis. Then Savatgy followed suit a couple laps later, losing the front end one turn later on the track, handing the lead back to Ferrandis.
Ferrandis looked good out front for a while, but then began racing behind him and started losing time to Smith and Savatgy.
With a few laps left to run, Smith and Savatgy found their way by Ferrandis, and eventually Ferrandis fell back into the clutches of Cianciarulo, who ended up going by for third late in the race.
Smith had to fight with everything he had to keep Savatgy behind him, but he managed to do it, taking his first-ever 250cc main-event win over Savatgy, Cianciarulo, Ferrandis, and JGR Suzuki’s Kyle Cunningham. Then came Harrison, Craig, Gannon Audette, Anthony Rodriguez and Luke Renzland.
With the bad day in Detroit, Osborne fell to third in the points, 10 points behind Savatgy, who now leads. Smith is second in points, and Cianciarulo sits one point behind Osborne in fourth with three rounds left to run.
2017 Detroit 250cc Supercross Results
2017 Detroit 250cc Supercross Results
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