Kit Palmer | January 5, 2017
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference: The 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series officially got underway today at Angel Stadium, where some of the heavy hitters of the 450SX class attended the season opening press conference. Taking the stage was defending champ Ryan Dungey, last year’s A1 winner Jason Anderson, former SX champ Chad Reed, Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, Davi Millsaps, Marvin Musquin, Josh Grant and 450 rookie Cooper Webb.
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
An obvious no-show was two-time Supercross Champion James Stewart. There is still no official word from his camp as to whether he’ll suit up Saturday or not.
For the second year in a row, Dungey, of the Red Bull KTM Team, will come into Anaheim I with the number-one plate, so he’s the rider that everyone is taking aim, but he says he’s ready to defend the big number one.
“I’m mainly focusing on myself; I think that’s the biggest thing,” Dungey said. “And to have trust in our plan and what we’ve done. We have to take it one step at a time and execute. I’m rested and we had a good off-season. I’m ready to get rolling.”
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
Yamaha’s Chad Reed will make his 40th (yes, 40!) Anaheim Supercross start Saturday (and 17th Anaheim I start) and is probably more prepared for this one than he has been in a long time. He admitted that he didn’t even have a signed contract this time last year, but he doesn’t have that problem this year, having signed with the factory Yamaha team months earlier. He’s had plenty of time to prep.
“I’m excited because this has been in the plan for a long time and having a new teammate [Cooper Webb],” Reed said. “It’s exciting, feeding off a new kid with the energy of Cooper. I’ve done this a time or two but it still feels like the first. I think for the most part the excitement is still there and look forward to getting out there. I’m excited, the off-season went well, I had a race in Australia [that he won], which gave us a chance to brush up where we needed to be, and since then I’ve just been at home.”
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
Many feel that Honda’s Roczen will be Dungey’s main challenge in defending the championship. Despite making a team change over the off-season, Roczen appears to be confident in his new bike and new team.
“Last year we ended up having a good year but it took a little time to get going, it was more towards the end of the supercross season,” Roczen said. “I’m excited to get going. There are a lot of things going on—new gear, new bike—so I’m just excited; it’s going to be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of hectic going on in the first few races, so we’re just going to focus on ourselves.”
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson hopes to make it two A1 wins in a row, and thinks he can at least be up front again. “Last year I came out and surprised myself for than anything with that win, but I’ve been working hard,” Anderson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out this year, hopefully I’ll be up there again this time. I want to be in the fight for the championship.”
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
One of the biggest questions going into Saturday night is: how will the two-time 250SX champ, Cooper Webb, do after moving up to the 450SX class.
“For me, it’s just going to be a lot of learning to do as quick as I can, but I feel confident,” Webb said. “Having Chad as a teammate and someone to learn from is great. I think that is going to benefit me as time goes on. I’m excited to see where all the training and stuff puts me. It’s a big unknown for myself. I’ve had a good off season and anxious to get on the gate and go racing. I’d love to start of strong. There is no pressure.”
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac say he’s better off this year than he was last year at this time now that he has year under his belt with the Kawasaki team.
“Last year, coming in here, I thought I was in an okay spot,” Tomac said. “In reality, I really wasn’t. I was behind, playing catch up the whole time, even with my body physically. This year is just a normal year for me, I was able to do my training and be prepared like everyone else. Last year was way too much of a catch up game for me. I should be in a better place.”
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
Davi Millsaps, of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM Team, is coming into the race a little under the weather and a little sore. He admitted that he came down with an illness recently, and you could hear it in his voice, and that he also recently injured his ribs, saying it’s not how he wanted to start the year.
At least Millsaps is better off than JGRMX/Suzuki’s Justin Barcia, who recently injured his wrist and will sit out Anaheim I and most likely a few other rounds as well. Jake Weimer will fill in for Barcia while he heals.
Roczen surprised everyone by showing up at Angel Stadium today wearing a suit and tie, rather than the tradition race-team gear.
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
“I want to really elevate the sport,” he explained. “You can see in other big sports, like the NBA and football, they are all showing up in suits and respect the media. We’re getting dirty and sweating on Saturday, and we’re doing it every weekend, and we thought it would be a good idea to do something special, and show up like that. I hope in the future we see some more of that.”
This year, racing will be based on time rather than laps. As for the main events, racing will be 15 minutes plus one lap (instead of 15 laps) for the 250s and 20 minutes plus one lap (instead of 20 laps) for the 450s. Most of the riders seemed to like the change but added that it really won’t be a big difference to them.
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
“I’m hopeful that the track will improve,” Reed said of the change. “The things that they do to slow us down to get the numbers back up to a minute—hopefully we can now just have more normal tracks and then just let us race, I think 20 minutes is a good number. Personally I’m excited about the 20 minutes.”
“I think it’s good,” Dungey said. “In reality, it’s going to be more laps and times and shorter in others; it shouldn’t be a problem physical-wise. It’s not a big change.”
“I feel it is going to change,” Grant said. “But I feel like we’re right there anyway. Daytona will be interesting because it’s always a longer race.”
Anaheim One Supercross Press Conference
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