Revo Seven Kawasaki’s Dylan Walsh returned to indoor action as a Wild Card rider for the opening round of the World Supercross Championship at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, on Saturday 8th of October.
Words by Ben Rumbold
Enjoying the circuit, as it was “on the same level as an American venue but with smaller whoops”, Dylan was looking to use the event as a start to his preparation for next year’s attack on the AMA Supercross West Coast 250cc Championship.
Although qualifying did not go brilliantly, gate pick for the main races was determined by two 11-rider heat races, and Dylan grabbed the holeshot in his from the far inside gate! Leading a pack that contained several Supercross winners, the KX250 stayed in front until “I made a little mistake to lose the lead at the start of the last lap.” Second behind Max Anstie meant that the first race of the night ended with a British 1-2!
The first main race, in a format which ran two 6-lap sprints before a 10-lap Super Final, with just 5 minutes between each race, saw Dylan start inside the top 5. With former AMA race winner Shane McElrath working past, Walsh held off Carson Brown and finally barged past Aaron Tanti for 5th place.
A mid-pack start in race two was tough to battle back from and he ended that one in 10th. The Super Final ended the SX2 programme and Dylan got his best start of the night, right up in 2nd place. He sadly collided in the air with veteran Cole Seely and went down in the final corner of lap 2. He had Justin Bogle run over his arm which made him slow to get up, although thankfully with no lasting damage. He passed a few riders to finish 18th and 11th overall.
“I haven’t done much Supercross at all lately, but it’s a good stepping-stone for next year. We head back to America in two weeks and start preparation for the AMA series that starts in January.”
“Tonight was more about getting a good Supercross under our belt before we start the next season properly, so he didn’t do anything silly. We know the bike’s good and Dylan’s pleased with it, so we’re ready to have a good winter before next season.”
