GODSPEED! PRESTON PETTY (1941-2022)

GODSPEED! PRESTON PETTY (1941-2022)

Preston Petty was born in Los Angeles on February 19, 1941. His father was a successful attorney and tried in vain to keep young Preston off those crazy motorcycles. Preston had an interest in anything motorized and at the age of 13 he got what he described as his first “real motorcycle,” an Ariel Colt. It didn’t take long before Preston Petty was a leading off-road and motocross racer of the late 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the first riders in the country to race Honda motorcycles. Petty rode for Team USA in three International Six-Day Trials ISDT (now known as ISDE) events and was one of the early proponents of bringing European-style motocross to America.

Barcia Leaves Anaheim with the Lead!

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BARCIA GRABS AHOLD OF EARLY POINTS LEAD WITH A SOLID PODIUM AT SX ROUND 2!

MOSIMAN FINISHES JUST OFF THE 250 PODIUM WITH A SAVAGE PERFORMANCE IN OAKLAND

 

Two rounds into the 2022 AMA Supercross Championship and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia has established himself as a steady front-runner with another third-place finish at Oakland SX. As the only 450SX rider to make two podium appearances in as many rounds, Barcia’s consistency has earned him the early points lead and red numberplate on his MC 450F. Teammate Michael Mosiman is on pace as well, delivering his second-straight heat-race win on the MC 250F and finishing one spot off the podium in front of his hometown crowd in Northern California.

 

• Barcia takes control of the red numberplate in Oakland
• Mosiman is two-for-two with heat-race wins on the MC 250F
• Barcia is the only 450 rider to finish on the podium at the first two rounds

 

Barcia had a slower start to the day with 13th in qualifying but he was on the gas when the gate dropped for the first bout of racing. Grabbing a top-five start in the heat race aboard his MC 450F, Barcia charged up to fourth early on to position himself for a podium battle later in the race. He made it happen with two laps to go, securing a top-three finish in the heat race.

 

In the Main Event, Barcia grabbed a top-five start and worked his way into fourth early on. Racing just outside a multi-rider battle for the lead, Barcia patiently waited for his moment to attack and he moved into third just before the midway point. Riding smooth and steady through the checkers, Barcia secured his second-straight podium in Oakland.

 

Justin Barcia: “I was just riding my race and having fun out there. I got a little tight in the middle but I was able to regroup. I saw Eli coming so I knew I needed to put the hammer down and I really wanted those two in front of me but they rode awesome, AP and Jason. I want to dedicate this race to Fed [Ryan Fedorow], he unfortunately passed away last week, so this is for him and I feel like he would be proud of me tonight. I can’t thank the whole team enough. We’re going to keep coming up here, it was fun tonight!”

 

In the 250 class, it was another up-and-down night for Michael Mosiman. The day started off great with a second-place qualifying position and he carried that momentum into the heat race with a second-place start aboard the MC 250F. Pressuring the race leader early on, Mosiman made his move out front with two laps to go and he cruised to the finish to claim his second heat-race victory.

 

With top gate choice for the Main Event, Mosiman didn’t get the greatest start but he charged into a top-five position on the first lap. He clicked off another spot on lap two, and his podium charge came faster than expected when the third-place rider went down ahead of him. After inheriting third, Mosiman was on the gas attempting a pass for second but he ended up sliding out and dropping back to sixth. Clawing his way back with a savage performance, Mosiman just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish.

 

Michael Mosiman: “It was so good to be back at my hometown race in Oakland representing NorCal, the fans were awesome! It was a fun weekend with the team and a lot of really good racing. I’m a little disappointed with the result but I’m focusing on the positive. I had great speed, my race craft has significantly improved from years past and I think I am one of the best – if not the best – guy in the whoops and that feels good. If you don’t consider the finishes, it’s been fun to mix it up with the guys and I look forward to replicating some of that heat race magic in the main. It’s coming soon, I think everyone knows it and I look forward to the upcoming races.”

Oakland Qualifing

450 GROUP A FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION // OAKLAND

 

Eli Tomac would be the fastest qualifier in the first session.

The qualifying times for the 450 class were insanely close, with the top 5 being within the same second of each other and the top 13 following just a second behind. Chase Sexton led the pack with Cooper Webb in second place but eventually, Dylan Ferrandis would grab the second-fastest position. Dean Wilson through down a heater grabbing the third-fastest position with points leader Ken Roczen in fifth place.

Eventually, Malcolm Stewart rode a very fast lap jumping up to third place but it wasn’t long till Eli Tomac made everyone jump a position down as he grabbed the fastest qualifying time, almost breaking into the sub-1 minute lap time.

Anaheim 1

Works Connection Unfair Advantage!

This leads to this 

Viewpoint: Ken Roczen

Viewpoint: Ken Roczen

Lewis PhillipsJanuary 10, 20220

Ken Roczen started the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross campaign in the best possible fashion; he reached the chequered flag first and added twenty-six points to his championship total. Roczen had won the season opener three times previously, so why was this triumph such a surprise? The crux of the situation is that he did not have the most productive month prior to round one and made that quite clear to all who would listen.

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“There were a couple of changes going on, then I went to see a doctor over there [in Europe] to try and figure some other things out,” Roczen said about his pre-season preparation in a media event. “Everything was going to plan until kind of like mid-December or the beginning of December. I came down with a gnarly sickness for some reason – it was not COVID-19 – and I am still battling the effects a little bit. It threw a wrench in our programme for this December and it was a bit of a struggle.”

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It is not overly surprising that such a statement caused pundits and fans alike to move away from the Honda HRC rider. A month-long illness should be taken seriously, especially at such a pivotal point in the off-season programme, and some would argue that him finishing seventh in timed qualifying was an example of some rust. Roczen was just five tenths from the fastest qualifier though and that should have been a hint that he was stronger than anyone had imagined.

There was no sign of him struggling during his heat race, which he won convincingly. The lap times that he recorded from beginning to end did not fluctuate much at all – every time that he recorded was within the same second. The main event, which he led from start to finish, following a similar pattern, as he stayed in the same second for the first eleven laps of the main and avoided a significant drop in the second half. One could certainly argue that Anaheim 1 was Roczen at his best.

“I felt surprisingly good actually,” Roczen said about his form in the main event. “It just ultimately comes down to not riding much in December. It is not that you are necessarily less fit – it is just that when you do not do twenties all of the time then they feel foreign. I felt pretty good. It was a little weird having that big a gap, with that much riding time to go. I guess it was kind of nice with how tough the track was. It is just a weird position because you want to be careful but not too careful.”

Do the events of the past two seasons allow fans to really appreciate Roczen at his best? Winning Anaheim 1 is a monumental achievement and should ignite an avalanche of conversations about his title chances. It feels as though the common consensus is that everyone has seen this story play out before though. Roczen always starts strong – he had the red plate after three events last season and the year before that as well, then he had it after two rounds of 2019 Monster Energy Supercross. This is what he does.

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Even if Roczen has a twenty-point advantage after the west-coast swing, most will still be sceptical. It is the second half where a microscope is placed on him. There were sub-par showings at the end of last year that remain at the forefront of minds and prompt a cloud of negativity. There is something that everyone tends to ignore though – he lost the title by thirty-five points last season and was twenty-two down heading into the finale. It is not like his season was a bust and he was closer than most give him credit for.

Is this going to be the year that Roczen puts it all together and claims the 450SX title? That is too far out to dive into at this point but remember what a force he is. Perhaps the turbulent month of December had an impact on his performance at Anaheim 1, more so than anyone noticed from the stands, and he will only get stronger in the coming weeks? History has taught us that he is difficult to beat through the first portion of the calendar.

Andrew Short Stage 8

Andrew Short: “Today was a little rough for me. I needed to pick up my pace a little to make up a bit more time so from the start I really pushed, but after 19 kilometres I got lost. So that wasn’t a great start to the day. Once I figured out where I was I got back into it and my pace was pretty decent after that. After refueling I really nailed the navigation so despite a bad start, I turned it around pretty good. I’m still aiming for a strong finish to the race and with four days to go there’s still a long way to the end.”

450SX Main Event Highlights - Anaheim One 2022

It wouldn’t be an AMA Supercross if the big players didn’t perform brilliantly, erratically or angrily—and that was the case at the 2022 AMA Anaheim 1 Supercross. While Ken Roczen got the holeshot (in both his heat and the main) and benefited from Chase Sexton’s mistakes, behind Kenny was an all-out war between every other big name player in the 450 class. Cooper Webb raced a strong race to second at A1, while Justin Barcia was on the podium. On his new Yamaha Eli Tomac circulated in 10th for most of the race, but benefited from the mayhem in front of him to get to sixth by the flag. As for Dylan Ferrandis, he has to regroup and start over. His 16th place, just means more focus on his starts from here on out.

Jett Lawrence

Interview: Jett Lawrence

Lewis PhillipsJanuary 8, 20220

It’s been an eventful week in the world of Monster Energy Supercross, as injuries have forced late changes to the 250SX West entry list for Anaheim 1. Jett Lawrence was one of those casualties, sadly, as a crash on December 27 left him with a fractured rib. Jett was lucky to escape with a relatively small injury, but it was still far too painful for him to ride and thus Hunter Lawrence was drafted in for the opening round at Angel Stadium.

Jett and Hunter were both in Southern California on Wednesday evening, as a pre-race press conference was held for the duo at the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa. It was a revolutionary event and one that opened eyes as to how much more could be done in the sport. The event also provided MX Vice with a chance to talk to Jett about his crash, injury and just how close he came to trying to racer at Anaheim 1.

“It sucked. I was feeling really good and very, very excited for the west coast,” Jett told MX Vice. “I just made a slight mistake and it ended up costing me, which sucked. Thankfully, I came away with just a fractured rib like you said. Very lucky with that. I get to have another second chance. Luckily, I have east coast to go to. Not like 450s where it is like, ‘Come on you have to suck it up and still go.’ It sucks, but it has kind of worked out a little bit.

“Monday was kind of the tell. I rode and tried to see if I could push through it. I still had a sharp pain. If it was not for the sharp pain, then I think I would be okay. The bone has kind of healed – it is more muscle now. I still had enough of a sharp pain where I could barely ride. I was so gutted.”

Let the Games Begin