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By Steve Matthes<br />
Tomac finished a quiet third, he<br />
didn’t get the start he needed<br />
and spent some time working<br />
through some good riders to get<br />
that third. He was charging hard<br />
and was the fastest man on the<br />
track about four to five laps into<br />
the main. He rode amazing in<br />
Seattle last year to win so one<br />
would think his charge might’ve<br />
carried him past the top two<br />
rides. But then something…happened.<br />
He lost his speed and<br />
lost touch with the top two pretty<br />
badly. In fact, if there was one<br />
more lap in the race he would’ve<br />
had a big problem on his hands<br />
with Webb. It was another performance<br />
that left you scratching<br />
your head a bit and both Tomac<br />
and Roczen sit third and fourth<br />
in the series standings. Definitely<br />
not something we expected to<br />
see at this point.<br />
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Dean Wilson<br />
is having a real solid season.<br />
Considering he started the year<br />
without a ride, the adaptation to<br />
a factory saddle with Jason Anderson’s<br />
injury has been pretty<br />
smooth. Two weeks ago Wilson<br />
won a heat race for the first time<br />
this year, in Seattle he qualified<br />
fastest. Baby steps indeed for the<br />
oft-injured rider that’s looking<br />
to score a second career 450SX<br />
podium one of these weeks.<br />
“I feel like my riding has been<br />
really good the past four to five<br />
weeks. I’m always real close in<br />
timed qualifying,” Wilson told me<br />
this week. “My speed is good.<br />
Heat races are getting pretty<br />
good. I’m in the battle. Starts are<br />
pretty good. Today main event<br />
was a lot better. I was probably<br />
sixth off the start and then was<br />
just kind of in a battle, rolling<br />
some stuff because we’re stuffing<br />
each other. The guys got away.”<br />
In the 250SX class, Monster<br />
Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s<br />
Adam Cianciarulo protected his<br />
points lead with a second place<br />
behind Monster Star Yamaha’s<br />
Dylan Ferrandis. With three races<br />
remaining, the lead for Cianciarulo<br />
stands at 13 over the Frenchman<br />
and those two are emerging<br />
as the top two guys after the<br />
start of the season saw Ferrandis<br />
teammate Colt Nichols and TLD<br />
KTM’s Shane McElrath take turns<br />
battling for wins.<br />
Nichols has had some crashing<br />
issues lately and McElrath has a<br />
back injury that knocked him out<br />
of Seattle and most likely out of<br />
the next two races also. The fact<br />
that McElrath was set to point<br />
out of the 250SX class and this<br />
back injury flared up is, I’m sure,<br />
entirely coincidental.<br />
Anyways, Ferrandis’s win was<br />
impressive, he held off a charging<br />
Kawasaki for most of the<br />
main event and lappers proved<br />
to be an issue throughout. The<br />
win was the first in 250SX for<br />
Ferrandis and completes his<br />
decision to come over here as<br />
a good one. He’s won 250MX<br />
races and has now completed<br />
everything. He’ll go into 2020 as<br />
a 250SX favorite. The oft-injured<br />
rider, going back to his GP days,<br />
seems to have figured things out<br />
and although there are still some<br />
sketchy moments, Ferrandis<br />
has adapted rather well to the<br />
USA style of racing, helped by<br />
his coach David Vuillemin, who<br />
knows a thing or two about winning<br />
over here as a Frenchman.
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