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Anderson, Roczen speak out on Anaheim 2 contact

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Post: Troy Guenther

450SX title contenders share perspectives on lap five clash.

Image: Octopi Media.

Following contact in Anaheim 2’s main event between 450SX title contenders Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen, the pair have spoken out on the incident that ultimately saw the Team Honda HRC rider fall from the lead and drop outside of the top 10.

While Anderson was able to take over at the front of the field and eventually claim second position behind winner Eli Tomac, Roczen could only recover for 13th position in the end.

Roczen made a strong start in the 450SX main event and led four laps, quickly getting past Shane McElrath and taking the early lead as Anderson started fifth, working his way to second by lap four and began working on Roczen.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider then took an inside line through the sand section, with Roczen to the outside, the pair colliding on corner exit as Anderson made the aggressive pass and later took ownership of the impact.

“I went on the inside of him in the sand and I kind of went for it,” Anderson recalled. “It ended up not so well… I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m that guy tonight. I’ve got to maybe not look at the Instagram too much because we are going to be getting some heat.”

While Anderson was able to hold on and finish the night in P2, Roczen could only manage 13th after remounting, the German dropping to ninth in the championship standings as a result.

“Things were going pretty decent,” Roczen stated. “I struggled with the whoops, so that was definitely not my strong point – I almost went down there once and the same lap I got taken down by Anderson… unfortunately left the door open.

“Probably not the right turn for him to put on a pass, but obviously it got me and I crashed pretty hard right there. I had to make a stop after that to get all the sand out of my goggles and our night was pretty much over after that. I could only salvage 13th place, but we never gave up”.

Round five of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship takes place this Saturday at Glendale, where Roczen will have the opportunity to regain lost points and Anderson will be looking to make inroads on red plate holder Tomac in the standings.

WORCS 2022 ROUND 1 PRIMM NEVADA

Herlings Hurt Again!

JEFFERY HERLINGS INJURED JUST 20-DAYS BEFORE 2022 MXGP SEASON OPENER

Sadly, the 2021 MXGP World Champion, Jeffery Herlings, has injured his left foot just 20-days ahead of the series opener for the 2022 MXGP season. Jeffery’s career has been characterized by dominating speed and dramatic injuries. Sometimes, Herlings is able to overcome the injuries to win anyways. For example: last season at Round 4 of the 2021 MXGP season at Oss, Holland, Jeffery was landed on immediately after the race began (click here to watch videos of it) and he somehow still managed to win the moto with a broken shoulder blade. However, the pain was too much to bear afterwards and Herlings sat out Moto 2 and the following weekend’s race. Then, amazingly, Jeffery was able to recover and solider on to eventually win the 2021 MXGP title.

Now, after winning a pre-season training race in Spain, Jeffery is once again dealing with an injury that will affect the beginning of his 2022 MXGP season, whether he tries to race through the pain or not.

First Yamaha victory for Tomac to increase 450SX lead

Craig back on top to extend 250SX advantage at Anaheim 2.

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac has become the fourth different winner in as many rounds of 2022 Monster Energy Supercross, stepping up at Anaheim 2 to increase his lead in the 450SX point-standings as Christian Craig won in 250SX West.

After taking over the red plate last weekend despite having no wins, Tomac cemented himself atop the standings by earning a first victory since making his high-profile switch to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha in the pre-season.

Early leader Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) went down by virtue of unintentional contact made by Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in the sand with around 15 minutes remaining, dropping him well down the order, which enabled the latter to take over at the front until he made a mistake soon afterwards.

While Anderson was able to keep it on track, his error was enough to let Tomac sweep by and he wasn’t headed from there – winning by 4.619s in a dominant performance to become the fourth different winner in four races.

Behind him, Anderson recovered for the runner-up, with Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) claiming another podium result in third position. Tomac’s teammate Dylan Ferrandis was strong yet again in fourth, while Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) took fifth after he managed to start up front this time around.

The top 10 also featured Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) despite losing the front-end midway through, Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) in one of his better rides of the year to date.

Roczen, meanwhile, finished down the order in 13th place with another dent in his title prospects. Also enduring a tough main event, Plessinger crashed out on the second lap, with Brayton also later going out after he went down while in 11th position.

The 2022 Monster Energy Supercross series now sees Tomac build a six-point buffer at the front, followed by Sexton, with Anderson ranked third ahead of Glendale’s first of the Triple Crown rounds next Saturday night.

Image: Octopi Media.

Points-leader Craig extended with a third 250SX class win of the season at A2, stamping his authority on the series in convincing fashion.

There was no stopping Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Craig on his way to a third victory in four races, overcoming longtime leader Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) to stand atop the podium.

It was Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) who led initially before Mosiman made his way by, with Craig giving chase from outside of the podium positions. The red plate-holder made his way into P2 by lap four and then made a move stick on Mosiman on lap 10, stretching away from there to win by 2.948s.

Mosiman wasn’t quite at the level of Craig on his way to the runner-up, while behind them, Lawrence made it four-straight podiums in third tonight, but only after Friese crashed in the whoops with two laps to run and was struck by Jo Shimoda, who also went down.

Unfortunately for Friese, he wasn’t able to remount after showing genuine pace throughout the round, while Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Shimoda – again affected on a luckless evening – managed his way back to seventh position.

With Lawrence salvaging third, fourth came Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), comfortably ahead of the improving Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Carson Brown (AEO Powersports KTM) starred in claiming sixth ahead of Shimoda.

The top 10 was completed by Carson Mumford (BarX Suzuki) over Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha) and Derek Kelley (AEO Powersports KTM).

Craig maintains the lead in the 250SX West point-standings, now by 11 points over Lawrence, with Mosiman a further three in arrears entering the Glendale Triple Crown next Saturday night.