2015 Anaheim 2 Supercross 450 Results from Angel Stadium
RCH Factory Suzuki’s Ken Roczen must be beginning to love Angel Stadium, as he convincingly won the third 450SX Main of the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, and his third win at Anaheim in five starts.
The 20-year-old German rider found himself in second place off the start, then made a quick pass on Andrew Short to take over the lead, where he stayed for the remaining 19 laps to take his second victory of the season. While Roczen began to pull away from the rest of the field after the first lap, several riders behind him remained equally separated from each other riding their own races.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey rebounded from a fifth-place start to work his way up to 2nd place. At times, he was gaining ground on Roczen, but after failing to jump a triple, he was no longer a serious threat for the win. Dungey’s 2nd place performance at A2 Supercross has him sitting 2nd place in the point standings as well.
GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac gained some ground on the field after a seventh place start and took advantage of some special lines. He was one of only two riders completing a quadruple after the start straight, along with utilizing the inside lane before the finish line. Tomac remained equidistant behind Dungey for the latter portion of the race to take his second podium finish in a row.
AutoTrader/Toyota/Yamaha’s Justin Barcia earned his season-best Monster Energy Supercross finish with a fourth on the night. The Floridian was the fastest qualifier during the second timed practice earlier in the day and carried that momentum into the main event. A ninth-place start didn’t do him any favors as he was forced to make his way through the field.
RCH Factory Suzuki’s Broc Tickle rounded out the top five with his 5th place finish. Rebounding this year after a severe injury in Toronto in 2014, the Michigan native carded a win in the Semi. An 8th place start put the Factory Suzuki rider right where he needed to be in order to put in his career-best finish in the 450SX class.
Team Honda’s Cole Seely finished in 6th place after a crash early on in the race, which bumped him back a few positions. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson was third off the start, but crashed after running over Andrew Short’s BTO Sports KTM, who went down right in front of him on the second lap. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps was running near the front on the first lap only to be passed by a slew of riders and had to settle for 9th place on the night. Rounding out the top ten was Yoshimura/Factory Suzuki’s Blake Baggett.
Much of the drama during the night came from Team Honda’s Trey Canard and TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed. Canard accidentally ran into the backside of Reed when their lines crossed after a small tabletop before the start straight, resulting in both riders going down. Despite hard impacts by each rider, they both remounted their machines at the same time.
While racing down the start straight, Reed ran Canard off the track and into the Tuff Blocks, sending Canard to the stadium floor. The Oklahoma rider was able to make several passes in order to salvage an 11th place finish. Reed’s actions were not taken lightly by the AMA, as the Kawasaki rider was black-flagged off of the race track resulting in a 22nd place finish.
The two biggest surprises of the night were Smartop MotoConcepts Racing’s Mike Alessi’s easy win in the first Heat race (though he was the second-fastest qualifier), and Gurrnaid Energy’s Cade Clason transferring out of the Semi.
Winner Roczen leaves Anaheim 2 with a 12-point lead over Dungey in the Monster Energy Supercross standings. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson is in third place in the standings, 21 points behind Roczen. Tomac jumps to fourth place, clawing back after his dismal showing at A1. Canard drops to fifth.
Photography by Don Williams
2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Results – Round 3 – Anaheim
1. Ken Roczen – Suzuki RM-Z450
2. Ryan Dungey – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
3. Eli Tomac – Honda CRF450R
4. Justin Barcia – Yamaha YZ450F
5. Broc Tickle – Suzuki RM-Z450
6. Cole Seely – Honda CRF450R
7. Jason Anderson – Husqvarna FC450
8. Dean Wilson – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
9. Davi Millsaps – Kawasaki KX450F
10. Blake Baggett – Suzuki RM-Z450
11. Trey Canard – Honda CRF450R
12. Brett Metcalfe – Suzuki RM-Z450
13. Kyle Chisholm – Kawasaki KX450F
14. Nick Wey – Kawasaki KX450F
15. Ben Lamay – Yamaha YZ450F
16. Jimmy Albertson – Yamaha YZ450F
17. Jake Weimer – Kawasaki KX450F
18. Cade Clason – Honda CRF450R
19. Mike Alessi – Suzuki RMZ-450
20. Josh Grant – Kawasaki KX450F
21. Andrew Short – KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
22. Chad Reed – Kawasaki KX450F
2015 Monster Energy AMA Standings After 3 Rounds
1. Ken Roczen – 72 points
2. Ryan Dungey – 60 points
3. Jason Anderson – 51 points
4. Eli Tomac – 46 points
5. Trey Canard – 43 points
6. Justin Barcia – 43 points
7. Broc Tickle – 38 points
8. Weston Peick – 32 points
9. Andrew Short – 31 points
10. Davi Millsaps – 30 points
11. Cole Seely – 29 points
12. Blake Baggett – 28 points
13. Jake Weimer – 26 points
14. Dean Wilson – 23 points
15. Chad Reed – 22 points