News 19 Jan 2020

Dominant 450SX performance from Tomac at Anaheim 2

There was no stopping Eli Tomac at Anaheim 2 as he became the third different 450SX main event winner three rounds into the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross season.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tomac dominated the premier class to win by 1.979s over Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) and a resurgent Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM).

It was Roczen who led the early laps, fending off a challenge from Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WPS KTM) after the latter went down, but Tomac worked his way from 10th on lap one into the lead by the seven-minute mark.

From there it was all Tomac at the front ahead of a composed Roczen, who held Webb at bay for podium results. Fourth was an inspired ride from Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), from teammate Jason Anderson in fifth.

Rookie Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) settled into sixth place as Justin Brayton (Team Honda HRC), Malcolm Stewart (Smartop MotoConcepts Bullfrog Spas Honda), red plate-holder Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna).

It is now Roczen who leads the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship, standings by three points over Barcia and a further two ahead of Tomac entering Glendale’s fourth round in Arizona next Saturday, 25 January.

Outgoing Australian Chad Reed (Mountain Motorsports cbdMD CR22 Honda) once again qualified via the LCQ and went on to cross the line in 18th position for what will be his final appearance at Angel Stadium.

Defending champion Dylan Ferrandis has won his first round of 2020 in a spectacular 250SX West main event at Anaheim 2 that saw Jett Lawrence crash out of contention on the final lap.

Ferrandis took the lead on the final lap after rookie Jett Lawrence (Geico Honda) led much of the final, however, he crashed out heavily on the final lap in an attempt to counter on the Frenchman.

The victory of Monster Energy Star Yamaha’s Ferrandis was placed under review due to contact made with Christian Craig (Geico Honda) while passing for second at halfway – the pair of them going down and Craig forced out altogether. Ferrandis was soon cleared afterwards.

It was initially Craig who led the way before Lawrence took charge early and stretched his lead to over 10 seconds mid-race. A mistake and fall enabled Ferrandis to catch and make a final lap pass, with Lawrence going over the ‘bars in the final set of whoops while fighting back for the lead.

Lawrence, 16, wasn’t the only big-name casualty in the whoops, with Austin Forkner (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) also falling victim while in podium contention in the latter stages and ultimately crossing the line in 17th position.

In the end it was Ferrandis who won round three by 21.013s ahead of teammate Justin Cooper, who retains the championship lead by 12 points. Completing the podium for the second week in a row was Brandon Hartranft (TLD Red Bull KTM) in third.

Despite both going through the LCQ, Michael Mosiman (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Alex Martin (JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki) were fourth and fifth respectively, with Australian Luke Clout (Penrite Honda Racing) scoring a career-best sixth.

Clout’s teammate Mitchell Oldenburg was directly behind him in P7, followed by Jacob Hayes (Gas Monkey AJE Husqvarna), Lawrence credited ninth despite breaking his collarbone and Killian Auberson (Gas Monkey AJE Husqvarna) 10th.

A2 was also a solid outing for Australian championship regulars Jay Wilson (Yamaha) – who sat out last weekend in St. Louis – and Aaron Tanti (Yamaha), riding to 11th and 13th places respectively.

The 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, series now moves onto Glendale, Arizona, next Saturday night on 25 January.

Detailed results