Ryan Dungey got his first victory of the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season on Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim and extended his points lead to 11 with one Round remaining before the series heads east.
Dungey, who entered Round 5 without a win this year but with three podiums, had little trouble getting his 15th career victory once he passed holeshot winner Blake Baggett on the opening lap. Behind him Cole Seely passed Baggett and then on Lap 2, Trey Canard, looking for his second-straight win, got into third-place. The 1-2-3 spots held until Lap 10 when Canard crashed trying to pass Seely, his teammate on Team Honda, and lost ground.
Ken Roczen, who won the first two races held at Anaheim, was looking for a 2015 sweep at Angel Stadium especially after a hard crash in Oakland drooped him from first in the points standings. Canard's crash enabled Roczen to get into third-place but he lost the final podium spot to Eli Tomac on the last lap. Seely's runner-up spot was a career-best finish.
"The whole day was great," Dungey said. "We went out there and got a good start, got into the lead and led all of the laps. That is all we can do. We've finished fourth, third, second, second and now first, and that is a step forward. We will continue to take it race by race and give it everything we have."
Dungey's win marks the fourth different rider to stand atop the podium this year with Roczen the only two-time victor. Tomac's third-place result is his third-podium of the year and since his crash at A1 that left him in 20th place he hasn't finished below fourth-place. Tomac and Canard are tied in third-place with 84 points.
Jimmy Albertson tied his season best 16th place finish at A3
On the homefront, Anaheim continues to be solid stomping ground for Jimmy Albertson who matched his season-best outing in 16th-place, the same result as A2, where he also grabbed the holeshot. No holeshot this time around but the five points earned puts Albertson just outside the Top 20. The rest of MotoSport-sponsored riders in the 450SX class continued to have trouble against the stacked 2015 field.
Nick Wey missed the Main again and has only nailed down one this year. Finishing behind him in the LCQ was Fredrik Noren who will end his Supercross season for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing team next week and remain in California as a Honda test rider as he prepares for Outdoors.
Fredrik Noren will race in San Diego then prepare for Outdoors
In the 250SX West Class, Cooper Webb opened a significant lead in the points race winning for the third time in four rounds. Webb's ninth-place showing at A1 proved to be an anomaly as he's been on the podium since. His much-hyped feud with Tyler Bowers in recent weeks thanks to several on-track incidents turned lukewarm at A3 as Bowers crashed on Lap 2 and time in the pits put him in the back of the field and an eventual 15th place finish.
Josh Hansen grabs seventh-place at A3 and remains in Top 10 for points
Jessy Nelson, who got his first career victory the first time around at Anaheim, took second, his third podium of the season and he moved into second-place for points. Bower's finish dropped him from second to fourth and Zach Osborne moved into third.
As for MotoSport riders, Josh Hansen tied his season best outing with a seventh-place finish which he accomplished at A2. It's his fourth Top 10 finish which puts him in ninth-place overall with 61 points.
Hansen recently expressed some dismay at his finishes considering the amount of work put in but the bottom half of the Top 10 in the 250 class is separated by less than 20 points. Four races remain and a shot at the final podium is still within reach.
Tommy Hahn rebounded at A3 but still outside of Top 10 for points
Tommy Hahn bounced back from last week's 16th place finish with 12th place at A3. Hahn moved just outside the Top 10 in points to 11th place.
Supercross takes a trip south to San Diego for the last West Coast date until April. The venue is new this year at Petco Park, home of baseball's San Diego Padres. Doors open at 12 p.m. Saturday and the Main event starts at 6:30 p.m. Buy tickets online or at the box office, 100 Park Blvd in San Diego.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Anaheim 3 Results
Anaheim 3 Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Ryan Dungey
- Cole Seely
- Eli Tomac
- Ken Roczen
- Trey Canard
- Chad Reed
- Blake Baggett
- Justin Barcia
- Jason Anderson
- Josh Hill
Anaheim 3 Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Cooper Webb
- Jessy Nelson
- Aaron Plessinger
- Zach Osborne
- Matt Bisceglia
- Shane McElrath
- Josh Hansen - MotoSport rider
- Justin Hill
- Alex Martin
- Cole Martinez
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (107)
- Ken Roczen (96)
- Eli Tomac (84)
- Trey Canard (84)
- Jason Anderson (74)
- Justin Barcia (71)
- Cole Seely (67)
- Chad Reed (57)
- Davi Millsaps (54)
- Blake Baggett (54)
250SX West Class Season Standings
- Cooper Webb (111)
- Jessy Nelson (93)
- Zach Osborne (87)
- Tyler Bowers (84)
- Justin Hill (78)
- Aaron Plessinger (74)
- Malcolm Stewart (68)
- Shane McElrath (64)
- Josh Hansen (61) - MotoSport rider
- Alex Martin (59)
