Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Chase Sexton made his return to the 450SX podium in Round 13 of the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship at Foxborough's Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts tonight, finishing just short of the victory after charging hard to a P2 result in the Main Event, as Tom Vialle claimed third position in 250SX East.
Equipped with the KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, defending premier class champion Sexton was fifth on the time sheets following qualifying this afternoon and then raced to P3 in the second heat of the night.
Sexton was positioned fourth after lap one in the Main Event, quickly climbing into third and then pressuring for second at that point. He managed to make a pass for position on lap 18 and then went to work on challenging for the lead, eventually taking the checkered flag in the runner-up result and now sits third in the standings, 15 points outside of the lead with four rounds to run in 450SX.
Chase Sexton: "It was definitely hard to pass on this track tonight... I got by Jason [Anderson] early and then I was behind Kenny [Roczen] for a while. It took a lot to set that pass up, trying to get an angle [to make the move]. After that, you couldn't be super-aggressive with how the track was, it was really slippery, so you had to be patient. I saw Cooper [Webb] miss the rut toward the end, so I went to rail the turn and maybe set up a pass, but it didn't come together. I feel like I had good speed tonight, I was decent in the heat and felt like I rode pretty good in the Main Event with how the track was, so we will keep pushing from here into these final races."
Unfortunately for Sexton's 450SX Class teammate Aaron Plessinger, a crash in this morning's Free Practice session resulted in him being ruled out of action for the remainder of the round, set to undergo further evaluation on his elbow.
Foxborough saw the 250SX East series resume in its sixth round of the 2024 season, where Frenchman Tom Vialle raced his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to third place on the podium. Vialle was fifth fastest in qualifying and then improved to P3 in Heat 2 of the night, before racing to third position in the Main Event. He retains second in the standings, only four points outside of the lead with three races remaining.
Tom Vialle: "I always try to do my best no matter what and I think that finishing third was the best I could do tonight, so we are happy to be on the podium again. Next weekend will be really important and the coming races, too. There are only three rounds to go – it is going to be a good fight to the end, for sure."
The Supercross Futures category was also back on track in Foxborough, where KTM-supported amateur racer Luke Fauser raced to third position on the podium tonight.
Next Race: April 20 – Nashville, Tennessee
Results 450SX Class – Foxborough
1. Cooper Webb (USA), Yamaha
2. Chase Sexton (USA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3. Ken Roczen (GER), Suzuki
10. Malcolm Stewart (USA), Husqvarna
11. Justin Barcia (USA), GASGAS
Standings 450SX Class 2024 after 13 of 17 rounds
1. Jett Lawrence, 261 points
2. Cooper Webb, 261
3. Chase Sexton, 246
7. Aaron Plessinger, 198
9. Justin Barcia, 149
11. Malcolm Stewart, 142
Results 250SX East Class – Foxborough
1. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha
2. Cameron McAdoo (USA), Kawasaki
3. Tom Vialle (FRA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
4. Pierce Brown (USA), GASGAS
15. Casey Cochran (USA), Husqvarna
Standings 250SX East Class 2024 after 6 of 9 rounds
1. Cameron McAdoo, 120 points
2. Tom Vialle, 116
3. Haiden Deegan, 107
4. Pierce Brown, 105
29. Casey Cochran, 7