Despite the crazy, muddy conditions, JE Pistons-sponsored riders took all 3 steps of the 250SX podium Saturday night in San Diego. Check out the insane conditions and what the riders thought here.
Official release from JE Pistons.
SAN DIEGO (February 4, 2019) – In a beautiful exercise of contradictions, Adam Cianciarulo, Garrett Marchbanks and Jimmy Decotis pulled off the clean sweep in the ugliest of conditions as the JE Pistons-sponsored trio swept the top three spots in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, a FIM World Championship, Western Regional 250SX Class action Saturday night.
If conditions at a typical Supercross aren’t challenging enough, monsoon-like rains added an unpredictability factor in San Diego that had yet to been seen in 2019. While mud races tend to yield surprise winners, Cianciarulo spoiled any potential bombshells by grabbing the holeshot on the way to his third victory in five races, and second straight.
At the same time and also for the second weekend in a row, Cianciarulo led the 250SX Class main event from flag-to-flag to pick up the win, but this time, the rider of the No. 92 Kawasaki KX250 took the division’s point lead to the top step of the podium with him.
As a result, the New Smyrna, Fla., rider will showcase the red number plate signifying series points leader when the Western Regional 250SX Class returns to the track next month in Atlanta.
"What a night,” commented Cianciarulo. “It feels good to go into the break with the win and kind of put the mind at ease, a little bit. I don’t think I’ve had the red plate since I was a little kid so that feels good, too. When you have a stressful day like we did, with all the mud, it creates a lot of unknowns. There’s a lot of stuff that can happen that is out of your control so to get this win feels better than usual. I’m excited to keep building on this. We’re halfway through (the Western Regional 250SX Class schedule) and we’ve got a couple of weeks before we go back to work so I’m excited. It has been an up and down first several weeks of racing for me, but to get this win is huge. I also want to give a shout out to my teammate Garrett Marchbanks on his first ever podium. It was awesome to have the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team go 1-2 in San Diego."
Marchbanks’ appointment to the Pro Circuit squad late last year proved to be with plenty of merit Saturday night as the Supercross rookie charged to a second-place showing and first podium finish as a professional.
“That was a night I will never forget,” explained Marchbanks. “I felt good all day. I need to keep working on my starts. I’ve had a couple rough ones in some of the main events and even the heat races this season. It’s been a big learning process. These guys are really good riders. I’m just working on my speed. By Lap 2 I couldn't see out of my goggles, so I just ditched them. Once I was able to see, I was able to make some passes. I can't thank my whole team enough, it feels so good to put my Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki up on the podium!”
JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Decotis put the icing on the cake with his top-three effort, matching his career-best finish while rewarding JE with a muddy, but, clean sweep of the podium.
“The San Diego mudder was an absolute blast,” said Decotis. “I surprised myself in the muddy conditions. I pulled off my first podium of the year in some of the craziest conditions I’ve ever seen. I’m loving this Suzuki RM-Z250 so much. I’ve been so comfortable, and we are just continuing to build each and every week. I’ll have several weeks off before we head to Atlanta. I’m excited to keep progressing.”
On the senior circuit, in the 450 paddock, JGRMX’s Chad Reed rode his JE-sponsored Suzuki RM-Z450 to a season best fifth-place finish.
“San Diego is always a race I really enjoy,” offered Reed who left San Diego tied for ninth in points. “I had a great week in California leading up to the race. It was a rain schedule, which is always challenging. The track was gnarly. The main event wasn’t my best mud performance, but I’m really happy to get up into the top five. I’m back in North Carolina this week and looking forward to continue working with the team to get up on that podium.”
Monster Energy AMA Supercross will trade the friendly confines of southern California for the heart of winter in the Midwest this weekend when the series returns to U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. The sixth of 17 races on the 2019 schedule will be televised live on NBCSN Sat., February, 9 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 5 p.m. Pacific.
