The Week That Was: March 28, 2022
Image via Supercross/Feld Entertainment, Inc.
Didn’t get to watch all of the action motorsports on two and four wheels that made it to TV this week? We’ve got you covered! Here’s a quick summary of everything that went down over the past few days:
Supercross Heads Into Off Weekend After Historic Tomac Win in Seattle
Monster Energy Star Yamaha rider Eli Tomac extended his win streak to five consecutive 450SX main events in Monster Energy Supercross action from Lumen Field in Seattle on Saturday night. Tomac’s victory, the culmination of the series’ first visit to the state of Washington in three years, also saw him tie the legendary Chad Reed for fourth place on the all-time 450 wins list.
Tomac’s points lead is also up to more than two races over Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson, who nonetheless finished second in the feature. Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin completed the podium, while Honda rider Chase Sexton’s run of terrible luck in the premier class continued as a practice accident rendered him unable to compete.
It was a sunnier prognosis for Honda in the return of 250 West, as Hunter Lawrence returned to second in the championship standings after charging from seventh in the holeshot to first in the first five minutes of the feature. Christian Craig couldn’t set Tomac up for the Yamaha sweep, finishing second, but remains in control of the championship after Lawrence’s disappointing result at Anaheim 3.
Verstappen Earns Redemption on Chaotic F1 Weekend in Saudi Arabia
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen closed out the return of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for the second time in four months by scoring the first victory of his Formula 1 title defense in 2022. After a late-race fuel system failure in Bahrain for both Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez left the team pointless for the first time since Silverstone last year, the Dutch star outdueled Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the thrilling final laps of the race to earn his fourth win in the past eight races.
A terrorist drone strike just miles from the track on Friday and a massive qualifying shunt for Haas’ Mick Schumacher on Saturday gave the weekend an unsettling air, but officials and competitors nonetheless completed the event as scheduled. Perez earned his long-awaited first F1 pole more than 200 races into his career and led early, but pit just before a safety car period for Williams driver Nicholas Latifi’s second crash of the weekend. As a result, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz were able to pit under yellow and came out on track ahead of Perez.
That trio would eventually finish in that order, thanks in part to Perez giving back third to Sainz after illegally passing him under yellow, but the majority of the race was run with Leclerc in position to score his second win in a row. Leclerc still leads the standings with 45 points, 12 ahead of teammate Sainz, while Ferrari is 40 clear of Mercedes in the constructor’s championship.