Smartop | MotoConcepts | Honda returned to action for the rescheduled Oakland Supercross round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship. Fans throughout Northern California filled the iconic RingCentral Coliseum. They watched Mitchell Oldenburg and Anthony Rodriguez compete in the fourth Main Event for the 250 West Coast Region, where they finished eighth and sixteenth, respectively.
Despite feeling under the weather coming into the weekend, Mitchell Oldenburg added another top-ten finish to the season’s result sheet. He progressed through the afternoon’s practices, evident in the 1:09.018 lap time clicked off in Session Two, which put him ninth overall in the Timed Qualifying sheets. Oldenburg slotted himself into sixth place at the start of 250 Heat Race Two and held the position through the seven-lap sprint. He turned a fair gate pick for the 250 Main Event into another top-ten start, made it through the fifteen-lap feature with no serious mistakes, and fought for positions to the checkered flag. “I knew it was going to be rough, but I survived it, and I’m happy with my results. The main thing I struggle with when I’m sick, aside from the obvious energy level, is that everything seems to come at me fast, and it’s hard to slow it down in my head,” Oldenburg shared. “To finish eighth on the night and be healthy for the break we have coming up, which I’ll be in Texas for, makes me excited for the next race in Seattle.” Oldenburg maintains his fourth-place rank in the 250 West Coast Region championship standings.
A productive break between rounds helped Anthony Rodriguez further sharpen his Supercross skills, all of which were put to the test by the rutted jump faces of the rhythm lanes and the repeated whoop sections. The rider spent the afternoon figuring out the challenging layout and put in a 1:12.854 lap during Session Two, which put him twenty-ninth overall in the Timed Qualifying. Rodriguez started 250 Heat Race Two inside the top ten, slotted into a four-rider freight train, and finished in eighth place. A lackluster start and difficult opening laps in the 250 Main Event saw the rider slide back and rise through the running order with a determined effort through the remaining minutes. “Four years out of Supercross and then getting thrown a track like this, with all the ruts, was a lot for me. I have to get better at it, and the only way is to ride more tracks like this. The big rhythms, tall jumps, and ruts made it difficult,” Rodriguez reflected. “At the test track, I have been getting better, where it’s hard packed in Southern California, and thought if I could ride like that here, I could get a top-eight. I came in with a lot of expectations, and the conditions did not favor me. Again, it’s a work in progress, and I know I have to get better, but I feel there is a lot of potential.” Rodriguez is now ranked fourteenth in the 250 West Coast Region championship standings.
Smartop | MotoConcepts | Honda will have an extended break as the Monster Energy Supercross Championship continues its East Coast swing and return to action at the 2023 Seattle Supercross in March.