The culmination of the eleventh round of the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series was hard to fathom as the slippery and rough circuit inside the Ford Field stadium. Ryan Dungey took the chequered flag but was later demoted to third place (still a record twenty-seventh podium finish) after jumping a section while medical flags were waved handing spoils to Jason Anderson for the second time this year.
More than 46,000 spectators took-in the latest episode of the 450SX and 250SX East Coast classes and the eleventh successive date of racing since the championship begun in January and before a well-earned break over Easter. Behind the change of results Yamaha’s Chad Reed bounced back to form with a better start and clinched fourth place on the YZ450M; his best finish since climbing the box in Atlanta three rounds previously.
Reed motored to fourth spot ahead of Eli Tomac. The Daytona winner had to work through the pack after a poor start. The Monster Energy Kawasaki athlete had shown promising form through practice and the Heat race but couldn`t replicate his potency in the Main Event.
“Today started off really well,” he said. “I went on to finish second in my heat and felt confident. In the Main I started mid-pack and made some early passes to get into the top five. Overall, Detroit went well and I`m happy with where we ended.”
Also suffering a poor getaway was Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers. The former Arenacross champ had won his 250SX Heat race earlier in the evening but a fall on the first corner forced a rapid cut through the pack for an impressive fourth place. “Unfortunately I was tied up with another rider in Turn 1 but was able to charge through, ride my race and keep on my lines,” he recollected. “Next thing I knew I was in fourth and could see third right ahead of me.” His teammate, Arnaud Tonus, was also in with a sniff of the podium and led the field for three laps until a mistake and crash in the whoops forced a DNF for the Swiss.
With Dungey sitting pretty on a 39 point cushion in the premier class his fellow teams and athletes now have a respite to gather resources for a final charge at the defending champion in the six events that remain, taking Supercross to Santa Clara, Indianapolis, St Louis, Foxborough, New Jersey and Las Vegas.