An eventful P8 result left Chase Sexton with ‘work to do’ following his Monster Energy Kawasaki debut at Anaheim 1, but there were positives to take from the 450SX opener.

Sexton’s opening round was highlighted by a 1m04.465s lap time in qualifying that placed him on top of the timesheets, over half a second clear of Eli Tomac – the rider who replaced him at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

A fast start in the second 450 heat race saw Sexton briefly take the lead, before a sequence of mishaps relegated him to fifth. A poor launch in the restarted main event – followed by further mistakes – left the 26-year-old in eighth position at the end of the night.

“The day started off well with earning the fastest qualifier,” Sexton recalled. “I felt really comfortable on the track and felt like I had the speed to contend up front. Unfortunately, I had a couple of mistakes during the heat race and main event that forced me to work my way through the field.

“It’s only the first round, and we have a good base to build off… We’ve got some work to do, but I know we’re capable of improving and putting up better results next week.”

Anaheim 1 marked a mixed first outing for Sexton and the storied Monster Energy Kawasaki team, currently 11 points in arrears of early championship leader Tomac heading into San Diego.