Photography by Kit Palmer
It was a new team and new bike for Ken Roczen, but the 20-year-old German came through with flying colors, scoring his second consecutive Anaheim 1 victory and in the process giving RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns Suzuki its first Monster Energy Supercross victory. Roczen took the lead early on the first lap and pulled away to a convincing 4.199 margin of victory. It marked his third-career AMA Supercross victory and gives him the early lead in the championship chase.
While Roczen was the big story, almost equal news was the standout ride turned in by Jason Anderson in his 450 Supercross debut. Anderson, the only rookie to qualify straight out of his Heat race, got a solid start in third, promptly got by Andrew Short on the second lap and went on to look totally comfortable en route to his runner-up finish. It was an amazing return to Supercross racing for Husqvarna, after the Rockstar Energy-backed squad Anderson rides for switched from running KTMs in 2014.
Third at Anaheim 1 went to Team Honda’s Trey Canard. Canard charged hard all night after a lackluster start that saw him running eighth in the early going. Showing the experience of a veteran, Canard never hit the panic button, but instead put his head down and worked his way past a slew of talented riders including the likes of Davi Millsaps, Eli Tomac, Ryan Dungey, holeshot winner Mike Alessi and Andrew Short.
Dungey and Short had nearly a race-long battle that concluded with former series champ Dungey getting the nod late in the race over fellow KTM rider.
Justin Barcia took sixth in his debut with Autotrader/Toyota Yamaha. Weston Peick, Broc Tickle, Mike Alessi and Chad Reed rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Roczen’s win was so tidy tonight; he looks at this point to be the rider to assume the mantle left by vacating champ Ryan Villopoto, who announced his retirement from Supercross racing.
“My team has been doing a great job and I adapted to the bike pretty quick,” said Roczen, who was named Cycle News Rider of the Year for 2014 last month. “It felt awesome. It feels good to get the first one out of the way and everything went as planned. I felt like I had a solid ride out there.”
For second-place Anderson, he sounded like he expected to be on the podium in his debut, rather than a typical rookie just hoping to make the Main.
“I put in the work and I felt solid out there,” he said. “I’m pretty stoked on how everything went tonight. I’m just looking forward to more of this as the season goes on. I’m just going to try to be solid all season and hopefully come out with good results. I’m pumped about putting Husqvarna up there and Rockstar Energy. I just thank everybody who’s been behind me. It’s been good.”
Behind Anderson, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett was second among the highly-talented 2015 rookie class. He recovered from a conservative start and steadily chipped away to end up 12th, just behind a torrid Chad Reed/Jake Weimer battle. The other high-profile rookies Cole Seely and Dean Wilson finished 14th and 15th.
Eli Tomac, whose evening started on a high note as the fastest qualifier, ended up having a hard endo crash on lap three, landing on his head and then being pounded by his own motorcycle. He remounted, but he limped home to finish in 20th. Former Anaheim 1 winner Davi Millsaps was battling up in the top five when he toppled off the whoops into the tuff blocks and crashed. He was up, but quickly crashed again, ending his shot at a strong opener. He was 19th.
The series moves to Phoenix next Saturday, Jan. 10.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross results from Anaheim – Jan. 3, 2014 – Rd. 1 of 17
1 94 Ken Roczen Suzuki RM-Z450 20 Laps 55.240 RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing
2 21 Jason Anderson Husqvarna FC450 +04.199 56.266 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
3 41 Trey Canard Honda CRF 450 +05.353 55.799 Team Honda
4 5 Ryan Dungey KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edit +09.541 56.343 KTM/RED BULL/MOTOREX/WP/AKRAPOVIC/DUNLOP
5 29 Andrew Short KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edit +13.955 56.362 BTO Sports – KTM – WPS
6 51 Justin Barcia Yamaha YZ450F +17.208 56.795 Autotrader/Toyota/Yamaha
7 23 Weston Peick Yamaha YZ450F +19.924 56.286 JGR
8 20 Broc Tickle Suzuki RM-Z450 +21.952 56.739 RCH Soaring Eagle Jimmy Johns Suzuki Factory Racing
9 800 Mike Alessi Suzuki RM-Z450 +23.332 57.190 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing
10 22 Chad Reed Kawasaki KX 450F +24.493 56.754 Discount Tire
11 12 Jacob Weimer Kawasaki KX 450F +25.445 56.877 Team Tedder
12 4 Blake Baggett Suzuki RM-Z450 +27.040 56.512 Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing/Motorex/Dunlop/Renthal/Showa/
13 10 Justin Brayton KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edit +32.741 56.839 BTO Sports – KTM – WPS
14 14 Cole Seely Honda CRF 450 +35.484 56.667 Team Honda
15 15 Dean Wilson KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edit +37.379 57.411 KTM/RED BULL/MOTOREX/WP/AKRAPOVIC/DUNLOP
16 75 Joshua Hill Yamaha YZ450F +39.796 57.201 Monster Energy, Yamaha, Valley Motorsports
17 24 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki RM-Z450 +42.246 57.192
18 33 Joshua Grant Kawasaki KX 450F +44.233 57.540 Discount Tire Racing/TwoTwo Motorsports
19 18 David Millsaps Kawasaki KX 450F +47.330 56.339 Monster Energy Kawasaki
20 3 Eli Tomac Honda CRF 450 +53.676 55.682 GEICO Honda
21 199 Kyle Partridge Honda CRF 450 19
22 211 Tevin Tapia Suzuki RM-Z450 18 Laps
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki, 25
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna, 22
- Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda, 20
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 18
- Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 16
- Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha,15
- Weston Peick, Menifee, Calif., Yamaha, 14
- Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki, 13
- Mike Alessi, Hilliard, Fla., Suzuki, 12
- Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki, 11
