Supercross 2023: Results and points after Tampa Cooper Webb wins Tampa Supercross: Eli Tomac still leads championship by 2 points

Cooper Webb trailed Chase Sexton throughout the Tampa Supercross race and as Eli Tomac also struggled on Saturday night, the results show a reduction in points as Webb won his first race in 2023 and Sexton finished second.

Webb made a holeshot, but Sexton quickly completed the pass and took the lead on the first lap after another dominant run. Sexton can be forgiven for thinking he could get away from the pack. He could not; Webb stayed close enough to him during the 25 lap race to build up the pressure.

On lap 21, the pressure finally blew off. Driving through the screams on the deteriorating line, Sexton lost traction, began to wobble and couldn’t hold on. He hit the ground with four to go. A couple of riders had enough lead for him to take second place.

RESULTS: Click here to view the full 450 top results; Click here to see top 250 results

Aaron Plessinger had one of his best rides of the season last week. He challenged Tomac on the opening laps in Houston until a red flag and a misaligned start allowed Jason Anderson to pass him. Dropped out of the fight for the win, Plessinger admitted he was losing motivation and dropped to fourth place. He was still bitterly disappointed that he didn’t make the podium. He corrected that mistake in Tampa to get his first Supercross podium since Oakland in the second round last year.

Ken Roczen struggled to finish eighth in Texas last week. He rebounded in Tampa, finishing fourth and earning fourth in the top five in five races in 2023. If Tomac, Sexton and Webb are distracted by their battle, Roczen, who is currently fifth in points, could strike.

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As for Tomac, he fought for the second time this season. It was a low point in what could be the start of a rollercoaster ride. After a bad crash two weeks ago at one of the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown races, he won his third 2023 race in Houston.

This momentum did not last long. Tomac looked awkward enough on his bike that he didn’t want to raise the issue in the heat of the moment when he was challenged by Plessinger. In the Tampa Main, he had a poor start in seventh, moving up two spots by lap five, but once he was in fifth, his momentum stalled. He stopped and, taking fifth place, Tomac’s lead on points was reduced to two points over Sexton and four over Webb..

Click here to see top 450 results | Ryder glasses | Glasses manufacturer | Lap table

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For most of the 250 East Main, Hunter Lawrence must have figured he would have to settle for whatever the race had to offer him.

Lawrence had a modest start, placing him in sixth place at the end of the first lap. It took him a long time to get through the field. But at the same time, he slowly reeled in race leader Nate Thrasher until he saw the leader on the same straight in the final laps.

That’s all it took. Over the past half dozen laps, the gap has steadily narrowed, leading to one of the most dramatic results of the 250 season. Congested traffic has played a heavy role. Lawrence did slightly better than Thrasher and on the last lap they touched a little in each of the last two corners. Lawrence came out on top with his second win in two 250 East races.

Thrasher was disappointed after losing the race but couldn’t get too upset because he had taken his first career race win earlier in the night.

Click here to get 250 heat 1 | Heat 2 | Qualifying Tournament “Last Chance”

During the week, Max Anstey kept hearing questions about whether he could back up his podium in Houston with another podium in Tampa. This prompted the 29-year-old Brit to dig deeper and answer in the affirmative. At the end Anstey was 16 seconds behind the leader, but now he owns two podiums in two races in the 250cc class. Those strong runs put him in second place in eight points behind Lawrence.

Another rider with questions around is Danger Boy Hayden Deegan. He finished fourth in his 250m debut in Houston. He was just as surprised by the result as everyone else. Before the Tampa race, he told NBC Sports that he had no expectations. There was no pressure to keep him in the top five in Houston. With a burden on his shoulders, he finished fourth for the second week in a row.

Click here to see top 250 results | 250 Eastern Riders Points | Combined glasses | Lap table

Jeremy Martin rounds out the top five in the 250 East for the second time this season. Since his injury in 2022, he has placed in the top five four times in a row.

Tom Vialle improved his Houston Supercross results by one position to finish sixth in Tampa. It didn’t take long for the European newcomer to get used to the narrow confines of the stadium series.

Results of 2023

Race 4: Eli Tomac and Hunter Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen wins
Race 2: Tomac and Jett Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, Lawrence win

2023 supermotocross ranking

Week 4: Eli Tomac regains the lead
Week 3: Ken Roczen takes first place
Week 2: Roczen moves up; Chase Sexton falls
Week 1: Tomac reaches 450; Jett Lawrence 250s

Cooper Webb had the perfect race takes his first Monster Energy Supercross victory in Tampa in the last 22 races.

“It’s a hell of a long time,” Webb told NBC Sports correspondent Will Christien immediately after the race.

Webb and Chase Sexton were in class Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium. After winning the race, Sexton took the lead, but a motivated Webb never let him out of his sight and waited. This strategy often works for Webb as he forces his competitors to make mistakes.

“I felt good running at that speed,” Webb said. “I felt like I could catch him when I needed to. The lappers were tough.

“I had an important moment in whoops, and I held on to it. He had a big moment and I saw him fall. I was ready for it until the last laps. I saw that he was nervous.”

With a few laps remaining, Webb broke free, missing a section of whoops. He nearly crashed before catching his bike, but with no bystanders to tell him he had a slightly better lead over Webb than on the previous lap, Sexton kept riding the edge and when he hooked the edge he fell to the ground like clockwork. it was less than a minute.

“Overall my riding and racing is getting better,” Sexton said at a post-race press conference. “Tonight was one of the best nights of my career outside of Anaheim 2.

“Cooper and I were arguing about who could go faster on each lap and the lappers were definitely catching up with both of us, especially in the sand section. In fact, it was just an opportunity to focus. I did not know that he had a sketchy moment on the previous lap, and this main line was getting worse and worse. I tried to get it to work and obviously it bit me.”

Webb and Sexton ran all the way to Joey Savatgy in ninth place.

It wasn’t exactly Babe Ruth pointing at the fence to predict a home run, but before the race, Webb told NBC Sports that his “bottom line is it’s time to get that first of the year and try to maximize our points.” and come back a little cooler on the hunt.”

Webb’s most recent win came at the 2021 season finale in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he claimed his second championship title. After his first win that season, he finished eight times in the first two races in the next 10 races.

.@CooperWebb_2 lights candles in Tampa 🔥

Monster Energy 450 Main Event Live @Kroger #SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/YOSY4am1pJ

Supercross Live! (@supercrosslive) February 12, 2023

RESULTS: How they finished the 450 Main in Tampa

In 2019, he won in the third round and then won four of the next seven.

Aaron Plessinger almost made it to the podium last week. He ran well throughout the Houston race but lost speed towards the end and finished fourth. Like his KTM teammate Webb, he was highly motivated to improve his performance.

In Tampa, Plessinger claimed his first supermotocross podium since finishing third at the Ironman in the outdoor pro motocross season last year. It was his first Supercross podium since finishing second at Oakland in the 2022 second round.

“I just got my bikes done this week,” Plessinger said. “I think if it wasn’t for that red flag last week, things might have been different. … If not for the red flag, I could have landed here (in Houston).

Ken Roczen recovered from eighth place last week and finished fourth in the top five in five races.

The Tampa Supercross race was uncharacteristically difficult for Tomac, who lost a spot in the standings to Sexton and Webb with…