It's only Round 3 but it already feels like April just three weeks into the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season.
Sure, Ken Roczen came out on top, again, remaining undefeated this year at Anaheim after taking the lead on Lap 2 and riding mostly unchallenged the rest of the way for his second win of the season on Saturday at Angel Stadium adding to his points lead. But what went on behind him should only stoke the fire for a very long season.
MotoSport rider Jimmy Albertson grabbed the holeshot but was unable to fend off the fast Roczen, Andrew Short or Davi Millsaps. Short and Millsaps quickly passed Albertson before watching Roczen pass them by shortly after. Millsaps took runner-up status after Short crashed taking Jason Anderson with him. Chad Reed settled into third but gave up his spot to Eli Tomac on Lap 4.
Jimmy Albertson celebrates his holeshot award
Reed who was having his best race of the season after finishing 10th in the first two rounds hit the dirt when Trey Canard misjudged the line and ran into the back of him mid-air on Lap 7. Reed can be seen casually tossing his arms in the air at Canard, as if to say "what happened" as both riders remounted. But Reed chased Canard down and bumped him off the track and was disqualified for the retaliation move. It was Reed's first-ever black flag. Check it out below:
Reed admitted he threw an elbow at Canard and was mad about the crash but questioned why he was black flagged. His push of Canard happened in front of FIM Race Director John Gallagher who told CycleNews.com that he has no way of knowing when the retaliation stops after a rider takes matters into his own hands, therefore it's an immediate disqualification. Reed used his Twitter account to add more fuel to the debate in a number of posts. Among some of his tweets:
"Trey and I are professionals that have a much bigger goal than ruining Each other week in week out. It's done and dusted (in my opinion)." A few minutes later he added "This opens a massive can of worms! While I love this sport It blows my mind that there is millions of $ invested and on the line." Then followed with: "Yet we've volunteers and part time people making such big calls" and then finally "This is the beginning of change, that I promise, when and how long..Time will tell."
Reed won A2 last year, took third in Oakland and won again at A3 before a crash in San Diego ended his season. At the end of Week 5 in 2014 Reed was only two points behind eventual champion Ryan Villopoto for first. Reed's chances of winning a championship this year took a huge hit on Saturday. He falls to 15th place in the standings.
Nick Wey placed 14th in his first Main of the 2015 season
After the dust settled on those two, it was Ryan Dungey and Eli Tomac, last week's winner, rounding out the podium. Justin Barcia, who passed Canard and Reed after the collision held on to fourth for his best finish of the season. Canard settled for 11th place. Roczen's fourth career victory gives him a 12 point lead over Dungey in the point standings.
"That was an awesome race. I fought hard the whole way," said Roczen. "It was a tricky tack but I was able to get a good start, get into the lead early and ride my own race."
Albertson took a season best 16th place and MotoSport rider Nick Wey qualified for his first Main of the year and made the most of it with a 14th place showing. Albertson's teammate on the MotoSport.com/Arma Energy/Yamaha team, Mitchell Oldenburg, took fifth in the LCQ and MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing rider Fredrik Noren was also unable to get out of the LCQ and into the Main.
Josh Hansen got seventh at A2
In the 250 West class, Jessy Nelson appeared to be on the same track as Roczen to take his second win of the season, his first also came at A1, but after riding to a sizable lead after Lap 1 he crashed on Lap 6 dropping to sixth. Tyler Bowers took the lead with Justin Hill in tow. Meanwhile, Cooper Webb worked his way up from 12th and was in third by Lap 7. On the final lap, Webb cut inside Bowers pushing him off the track for his second-straight win. Bowers, the four-time Arenacross Champion, recovered to take second and Hill finished third.
Tommy Hahn gets another Top 10 finish
On the home front, MotoSport riders continue to turn in solid results in the 250 class. Josh Hansen took a season best seventh place and Tommy Hahn scored his second-straight Top 10 with a ninth-place finish. Both riders are ninth and 10th in the point standings, respectively. Check out Hansen's move on Shane McElrath:
Supercross Round 4 is 6:30 p.m. (PST)Saturday in Oakland. FOX Sports 1 covers the event live. Buy tickets online or at the O.co Coliseum box office, 7000 Coliseum Way in Oakland.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Anaheim 2 Results
Anaheim 2 Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Ken Roczen
- Ryan Dungey
- Eli Tomac
- Justin Barcia
- Broc Tickle
- Cole Seely
- Jason Anderson
- Dean Wilson
- Davi Millsaps
- Blake Baggett
Anaheim 2 Supercross 250SX Class Results
- Cooper Webb
- Tyler Bowers
- Justin Hill
- Zach Osborne
- Malcolm Stewart
- Jessy Nelson
- Josh Hansen - MotoSport rider
- Alex Martin
- Tommy Hahn - MotoSport rider
- Shane McElrath
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ken Roczen (72)
- Ryan Dungey (60)
- Jason Anderson (51)
- Eli Tomac (46)
- Trey Canard (43)
- Justin Barcia (43)
- Broc Tickle (38)
- Weston Peick (32)
- Andrew Short (31)
- Davi Millsaps (30)
250SX Class Season Standings
- Cooper Webb (64)
- Jessy Nelson (60)
- Tyler Bowers (60)
- Zach Osborne (54)
- Justin Hill (53)
- Aaron Plessinger (40)
- Malcolm Stewart (39)
- Shane McElrath (39)
- Josh Hansen (34) - MotoSport rider
- Tommy Hahn (30) - MotoSport rider