The Monster Energy Cup is in America as the Supermotocross Cup is in Europe. Obviously, there are some differences. Firstly, the Monster Energy Cup does not take into consideration a cup for builders, but only for single pilots; the prize money, in the second place, is much greater than the SMX Cup (1 million potential dollars versus 50,000 euros), the location is one of the most famous in the world of the American scene (Sam Boyd Stadium is the traditional closing stage of the championship supercross) and finally, the number of editions is greater (we are at the sixth of the first).
The scoring system is however equal to the SMX Cup: who gets less points in the three heats (10 laps per race), Monster Supercross wins the event. For the winner the prize money is 100,000 dollars but if a driver wins all three races then he wins the huge sum of 1 million dollars (so far it was only Villopoto in the first edition to win this sum).
What happened Saturday night
Race 1 – From a starting gate in a totally new position in the supercross (top of the stadium stands), the 22 Cup Class riders started down, with Blake Baggett getting the holeshot followed by Roczen, Tomac, Dungey and Musquin. In the same first lap, Ken Roczen, on his new Honda of the HRC Racing Team, takes the lead of the race and 4 seconds ahead. The aggressiveness and speed of the German driver is so obvious that he won the race with a 7 second lead over Tomac, Dungey (the supercross champion in charge), Musquin and Baggett.
Race 2 – The start is a copy of the previous one, Roczen takes the first position from the first corner. Unlike race 1, Tomac chases him just a second behind, with third Dungey and fourth Musquin.
The race continues in ranks unchanged until, four laps from the end, Roczen makes a mistake in the section of rhythmic jumps and falls hard, thus losing the lead of the race but also the chance to win the check for a million. Tomac, at that point, checks the situation and wins the race; second ends Dungey and third Musquin.
Race 3 – This time is Chad Reed to take the holeshot but must immediately leave to Mike Alessi because the Australian falls in the second corner. Alessi remains in first position for a couple of laps, only to be overtaken by Roczen. But it is immediately behind that you decide the winner of the evening because Dungey, Musquin and Tomac are all three neighbors and up to the last corner they battle. At the end of the race, Roczen wins, followed by Musquin, Dungey and Tomac. But the math gives the Colorado pilot and so Tomac wins the Monster Energy Cup 2016.
“It was a crazy race”
So Tomac comments at the end of the third round and also adds “I knew I had to finish behind Dungey and I was able to reach him and do a good fight with him.
I am happy with this evening and I am confident for the future “
The real surprise, however, was Roczen. In fact, despite the incident in race 2 that was commented by the protagonist as “a mistake made by me that cost me a lot”, he dominated every other lap of the evening even if his first race with Honda. Definitely a performance that leads him to be one of the favorites for next season, which will start on January 7 in Anaheim, CA.