Ist Results from Anaheim
USA Supercross 2014
250SX :
RacerX Comment: The checkers have flown here in Anaheim, and what a night it was. Jason Anderson kicked off the 250SX race with a holeshot, with Cole Seely, Dean Wilson, Zach Osborne and Malcolm Stewart in tow. Stewart quickly started making moves and it wasn’t long before he was knocking on the door for battle for the lead. Wilson and Osborne came back and passed him a few laps later though, and late in the race Stewart went down after hitting a lapper’s downed bike. Seely caught Anderson and was gapping him, but Anderson put on a charge and passed Seely two turns from the end to take the win. Wilson had third seemingly on lock, but Osborne caught him at the end for the final podium spot.
Comment from vurbmoto.com : Anderson Wins a Wild 250 West Opener By: Kellen Brauer
With every 250 rider that had won a championship in 2013 moving up to the 450 class for the new year, the door was blown wide open coming into 2014 for some fresh faces at the top. The 250 West Supercross Championship started it's 9 Round campaign this Saturday inside of Angel Stadium with a lot of questions waiting to be answered.
Qualifying earlier in the day brought with it some of the answers we had been waiting for but qualifying in no way was indicative of how the night show would go. Dean Wilson and Zach Osborne actually tied for fastest lap but neither rider went on to win their respective heat races.
Heat 1 saw Malcolm Stewart grab a holeshot and lead every lap but not without some pressure from Osborne in the closing stages. Nonetheless, Mookie looked very strong en route to the victory which was nearly mimicked in the following heat but Jason Anderson who led every lap as well after grabbing the holeshot. Justin Hill stuck close for 2nd with Wilson dualing to the end with Seely for 3rd.
The LCQ's this year take 4 riders each and Zack Freeberg took the win with Teillet, Martinez, and Ingalls transferring to the main with him.
So who was about to take the lead role in the next top tier 250 rider? Jason Anderson sure wanted to make himself known grabbing yet another holeshot in the main event ahead of Cole Seely and Dean Wilson. Malcolm Stewart and Zach Osborne sat in the top 5 as well and the battling began.
Anderson pulled away slightly at the front before Seely began to reel him in eventually passing him 4 laps into the race. Stewart drifted back from 3rd to 5th before crashing later in the race but Wilson and Osborne both got around him early and were locked together the whole race.
Cooper Webb was making up for a bad start and got around the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates off Justin Hill and Darryn Durham early. He then pulled back a large gap from 6th to 5th and was eventually gifted 5th when Stewart crashed with a lapper.
The Osborne vs Wilson battle reached it's end in the closing stages when Osborne finally made the pass stick on Deano and gapped him for the final few laps. All attention turned back to the front as Anderson began to reel back in Seely with two laps to go.
On the final lap Seely got the last few whoops wrong on the tricky whoop section that had been causing people problems all day and Anderson came flying in. He put an aggressive block pass up the inside of Seely and Cole somehow managed to keep his bike on two wheels but was unable to mount an attack in the following corner and Jason Anderson took the victory.
Seely was disappointed with the lappers while Anderson was elated with the win and the red plate going into Phoenix next week. Most of the top 5 looked on their game and hungry for victory so it should be a fun next couple of weeks. For now, we will have to wait another week to see what happens in the battle for 250 West supremacy.
Results: 1st Anderson, 2nd Seely, 3rd Osbourne, 4th Wilson, 5th Webb, 6th Hill, 7th Durham, 8th Stewart, 9th Nelson, 10th Politelli. 14th Dean Ferris.
450SX
RacerX Comment: The action in the 450SX race was crazy too. Ryan Villopoto nabbed the holeshot with Ken Roczen, Grant and Reed in tow. Reed moved into third quickly while Villopoto continued to lead. Villopoto wasn’t checking out as expected, then a few laps in he went down in a turn, handing Roczen the lead. Stewart, meanwhile, was putting on a charge and with about seven laps remaining was showing Roczen a wheel. The win for Stewart seemed inevitable, but then a big crash in the whoops took him out of the race. Dungey took over second from Reed and took runner-up behind Roczen.
And from www.motorcycle-usa.com and Byron Wilson : Defending 450 SX champ Ryan Villopoto of Monster Energy Kawasaki flew off the line for the early lead, followed closely by Roczen, Reed and JGRMX’s Josh Grant. Dungey was back in seventh off the start, but quickly pushed his way up the ranks, finding fifth in the opening laps. Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart was also on the hunt, slotting in behind Dungey soon after.
RV held firm out front for the first half of the race, keeping Roczen a few seconds back while the German rider fought to hold off Reed. Dungey and Stewart, meanwhile, were making up ground as the two dispatched Grant back to sixth. On Lap 11 positions shifted when Villopoto lost the front and went down, falling back to fifth and leaving the door wide open for Roczen to take over the lead.
Stewart was next to move up the ranks and he pushed past Dungey for third. The following lap he got past Reed as well and pushed to close the gap on Roczen. JS7 was able to get within striking distance of Roczen as the race entered the final laps, but while attempting to throttle past Stewart made a mistake and went down hard, ending his night early.
Soon after Stewart’s mishap Dungey slipped past Reed for second-place. Villopoto all-the-while held steady in fourth, but following his off was unable to muster a fight back up the field.
Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Justin Barcia ended the night in fifth after clawing his way back from an abysmal start.
Like Roczen, Wil Hahn of GEICO Honda, marked his rookie debut in the 450 SX class at Anaheim, but the Honda rider was unable to break into the top-10 before the checkers, finishing 11th. Hahn’s teammate, Eli Tomac, was unable to fight for a spot in the main after a crash in his heat race left him with an injured shoulder.
Comment from vurbmoto.com : Rookie Roczen Steals the Show at A1 By: Kellen Brauer
The 2014 Monster Energy Supercross series kicked off Saturday evening in Anaheim, CA, packed with loads of anticipation and a field full of champions. The 450 class now had a rookie powerhouse group as all three 2013 champions graduated to the big bikes. Wil Hahn, Ken Roczen, and Eli Tomac all made their 450 class debuts amidst the already stacked field with names like Villopoto, Dungey, Stewart, Reed, and Barcia.
With last year's A1 first and second place finishers on the sidelines in Davi Millsaps and Trey Canard, we would see a different winner to the opening round of 2014. Top honors in qualifying switched hands throughout that day as Tomac and Roczen both impressed as well as Josh Grant. James Stewart found himself near the top before the honor finally went to Justin Barcia.
A new format, or rather old format reborn, greeted the 450 class come the night program. Two heats with the top 4 transferring, two semis with the top 5 transferring, and an LCQ that now took 4 to the main. This new format proved great for racing as the first heat of the year was a tremendous battle to the end between Mike Alessi and Ryan Villopoto with Alessi taking the win. Villopoto crashed in the final corner but still finished 2nd and the final transfer came down to the last few corners between Brayton and Roczen.
Barcia kept up with his qualifying form winning Heat 2 after catching and passing James Stewart. Big news out of Heat 2 was a bad crash where Jake Weimer landed on the back of Eli Tomac. No word on the condition of Tomac but he was done for the night. Weimer had last gate pick for his Semi and actually made good use of it in Semi #1 starting in 6th. He would crash, however, with Vince Friese and went to the LCQ. Wil Hahn won Semi #1 and Ken Roczen won Semi #2 making it a rookie sweep of the Semi's.
LCQ win went to Partridge with Goerke, Weimer, and Nick Schmidt going through as well and the stage was set for the first main event of 2014.
As the revs came up after the turn of the 30 second board for the first race of the season, Mike Alessi got a little over anxious on his start and rammed into the gate. When the gate actually dropped it was defending champion Ryan Villopoto who stormed out to the holeshot and if his past is any indication people were prepared for a yawner.
Quite the contrary however as Ken Roczen started right behind Villopoto with Grant in an early 3rd and Chad Reed in 4th. Reed got around Grant quickly and you didn't have to look far back to see Ryan Dungey and James Stewart ripping forward from a mid pack start.
Justin Barcia got the worst start of everyone and was stuck outside of the top 10 early. Just as Dungey and Stewart worked their way around the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates of Josh Grant and Justin Brayton, Villopoto dumped it in a corner with the lead. A wash out of the front end sent the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider to the deck and put Roczen into the lead. Villopoto remounted in 5th but appeared a bit phased and could only manage to haul in a 4th.
Stewart was now a man on a mission seeing Villopoto behind him and passed Dungey for 3rd and then Reed in the same corner a lap later for 2nd. Three laps later he was right on the rear fender of Ken Roczen for the lead with about 5 laps to go. It seemed like it was James' race to lose and unfotunately the tricky whoops bit him.
While trying to get a run on Roczen up the right side of the whoops, Stewart swapped heavily before being thrown to the ground right near the mechanics area. His bike tumbled into a few peopl trackside but they are reportedly okay. Stewart was able to walk off on his own but walk off he did as it was the end of his race.
Dungey then quickly moved around Reed and tried to close in on a slowly fading Ken Roczen, but it was too late. The rookie Ken Roczen claimed victory in his maiden 450 campaign debut followed by his teammate Ryan Dungey making it a Red Bull KTM 1-2. Chad Reed started off the season aboard his new Kawasaki on the right foot picking up a podium finish with Villopoto and Barcia rounding out the top 5.
If Anaheim 1 was any indication to how this season will go whatsoever then we are in for 16 awesome remaining rounds this season. Bring on Phoenix!
Results: 1st Roczen, 2nd Dungey, 3rd Reed, 4th Villopoto, 5th Barcia, 6th Brayton, 7th Grant, 8th Tickle, 9th Short, 10th Weimer. 13th Matt Moss, 17th James Stewart