Report: AMA Monster Energy SX Championship – Rd 1, Anaheim
By Team TMX on 13th Jan 16
Jason Anderson (Rockstar Husqvarna) shocked the pit pundits by racing to his debut big-bike SX win at the opening round of the AMA Monster Energy Supercross championship at Angel Stadium, Anaheim, on Saturday night.
While most of the pre-race hype was centred on the hotly-anticipated five-way battle between Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Justin Barcia and James Stewart, Anderson slipped in under the radar to win by just over four seconds.
The first attempt at running the Main Event ended just four laps in when Dungey (Red Bull KTM) and Stewart (Yoshimura Suzuki) came together.
Stewart went down hard and appeared to be unconscious as the red flags came out.
There was even more drama earlier in the evening in the second semi when Vince Friese (Motoconcepts Honda) slammed Weston Peick (JGR Yamaha) and Peick – not a man to mess with – responded with a flurry of punches.
His temper got him DQ'd from Anaheim and round two next weekend along with a $5,000 fine as Friese walked away smelling of roses.
From the restart Cole Seely (Honda HRC) took the holeshot from Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) but Barcia (JGR Yamaha) moved into second through the second turn.
Dungey was fourth and Roczen (Soaring Eagle Suzuki), who'd had to qualify via the semis after a big crash in his heat race, was back in 13th.
By lap three, with Seely pulling clear, there was a fierce battle for second between Barcia, Tomac and Dungey before Trey Canard (Honda HRC) closed dramatically on the trio and pushed Dungey off the edge of a berm, forcing the defending champion to the ground.
At this stage Canard looked to be the fastest man on the track as he hunted down and passed Tomac who then lost a place to Anderson who had earlier walked away from a dramatic crash in practice.
By lap eight Canard was into second, four-and-a-half seconds behind Seely as Anderson eased into third.
At half-distance Dungey sat seventh – one place ahead of Roczen – but the pair were moving forward and latched onto the fight for fifth with veteran Aussie Chad Reed (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Barcia.
With nine laps to go Anderson was up to second and two seconds behind Seely but Canard made a mistake and crashed, leaving Dungey and Tomac to go at it for third.
A couple of laps later Anderson reeled in Seely and cleared off for a comfortable win with Dungey snatching second on the last lap.
"I honestly just felt good out there,” reckoned Anderson. "It was high intensity and I was coming through the pack.
"To pull off the victory and put a Husqvarna on the top is so unreal I can't thank everyone enough.
"I'm stoked right now and pumped to have a red plate on this white bike, I think it will look sweet.”
Dungey, who finished fourth at Anaheim 1 in 2015 – the only time he was off the podium all season, was the most consistently fast rider all night so even though he didn't win it was an ominous performance.
"I was running pretty good and just kind of settling in,” he said. "Then Trey came in and took me out. It's all right but I was glad I rebounded.”
Tomac was fourth from Roczen, Reed and Canard. Brit Dean Wilson (Red Bull KTM) came home ninth with 2015 East Coast 250SX champ Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) 14th, one
place ahead of Barcia who had a late fall after suffering from arm-pump.
Defending West Coast SX250 champ Cooper Webb (Star Racing Yamaha) qualified first and was a clear favourite in California but it was Jessy Nelson (TLD KTM) who sneaked up the inside to take the Main Event holeshot.
Nelson led the 15-lap race until two-thirds distance when he made a mistake entering a rhythm section and Webb closed sufficiently to stick a pass in the following right-hander.
Once at the front the result was never in doubt and he'd opened up a seven-second lead at the flag.
Former British MX2 champ Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) was third ahead of the Geico Honda pairing of Jimmy Decotis and Jordon Smith.
"Nelson has the reputation as a good starter so I knew he was going to get a good start,” said Webb, who ended last season's opener back in seventh.
"But it's all about finishing strong. It's awesome to start A1 like this.
"I had a bad night here last year so I'm stoked to end it this way this time.”
