Matthes On Anaheim 1

Anaheim 1 is done! Lots to get into as the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship kicks off at what some would say is the home of supercross. We saw some great racing in the 450SX class. Like, seriously! The track conditions helped for sure, but if we get some more racing like that this year then this could be a 1990-ish year, as in, an all-time season. I mean, we had four different leaders in the 450SX main, people!

Anaheim 1 is always stressful for the teams and riders, I always think back to my days as a mechanic and remember this is the first day you’re wearing new team shirts and pants, the bike is all new, the rider is complaining that it feels too stiff, you have pesky media guys wanting to take photos of your bike, there are new rules to figure out, and more. Many of the sponsors come by to say hi and you still have to focus on the race. It’s a lot. Many Anaheim 1’s are just a blur, really, and this one felt like that as well.

Well, Eli Tomac showed everyone what was, up didn’t he? Very impressive ride by the champ and one that perhaps showed everyone else they’re in trouble? In a race full of mistakes, Eli made the fewest and captured the first Anaheim-one win of his career. Well, he crashed, but that was his only major mistake, he was cleaner than most through the rhythm sections, so he overcame the crash and won! Wild, right? We’ll have more on ET1 below.

Cooper Webb looked good on his own comeback for second. We had Cooper on the PulpMX Show Monday and he really dove into how hard he was on his team this off-season in trying to get his bike better. He said one of the things he regrets last year is not being hard enough on his guys to get the bike where they need it to be. He mentioned that yes, they tried the production 48mm WP forks with factory lugs on them, but they didn’t work as well as he needed them to (Aaron Plessinger ran these in MX last year for a bit). Webb mentioned that getting beat in Paris this year was a good thing, it made everyone get back to work and realize they weren’t where they needed to be.

 

Cooper Webb

For more insight go to https://racerxonline.com/2023/01/11/observations-anaheim-1