Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
As we all watched on Saturday night in Anaheim, Round 4 of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Series was extremely successful for the Star Racing Yamaha Team and the entire Blu Cru Nation. Both Eli Tomac and Christian Craig came away victorious and will once again carry the red plates into Round 5 in Glendale.
Just as I did last weekend, let’s begin with Cole Thompson and how his evening went at Angel Stadium. Cole’s night started very well with a great start in his 250SX West heat race and a solid 4th place finish. He even got some television time while battling with Justin Rodbell so it was great to see just how comfortable Cole looks in this series. Unfortunately, Cole couldn’t duplicate his top five heat race start in the main event as he didn’t get a great jump off of the gate and ended up going through the first time near the back of the pack. However, to his credit, Cole charged hard and by the end, he would end up with a 12th place finish. It would’ve been nice to have been sitting in the stands watching as you could’ve kept an eye on Cole and saw where he was fast and also where he was losing time. If you look at the lap times from the main event Cole finished about where he should’ve considered his start. One of the things that didn’t work out for Cole was like last weekend in San Diego he ended up getting lapped near the end of the race. I think Cole’s fitness is great and his best laps have been at the end of the race when the riders around him are tired and the track is at its worst. However, when you see the blue flag on the last few laps when you’re trying to make a late-race pass, you end up being in a really tough spot. On Saturday night, Cole had race leader Christian Craig in his rearview mirror on the final lap and when he let up a little to allow Craig to pass, Dylan Walsh pounced and made a last corner pass on Cole for 11th. It was certainly some bad luck for Cole and I’m sure he was pissed after the race, but honestly, I don’t know what else he could’ve done in that situation. The last thing you want to do if your Cole is hold up the leader when he’s trying to lap you. With a better start next week Cole won’t even be in that position so all should be good. The great news is that even with his 12th place finish Cole has moved into 9th overall in the 250SX West points standings after four rounds. All in all, I think it was another solid weekend for Team Thompson and once he dissects the day I believe Cole will see that more progress was made. Onto Glendale!
From Cole Thompson and the 250SX West class, let’s move to the 450SX class and what was an incredible main event in my opinion. Ken Roczen was able to pull the all-important holeshot and for the first few laps, it appeared to be Kenny’s night. He looked smooth, fast, and appeared to be finding traction when others couldn’t. Roczen would dip into the 1:03 lap times on the second lap so it was evident that he trying to sprint away. For the opening three laps, Roczen was looking great but when Jason Anderson made his way to second on lap four his time at the front would soon be over. With a win two weeks ago in Oakland Anderson firmly believes that he’s the fastest rider on the track, and with riders like Tomac and last week’s winner Chase Sexton not far behind, Anderson was keen to get to the front. Now, I hate sand in SX and always have, however, there is no denying that over the years many a race has been won or lost in these menacing sections. As Roczen and Anderson entered the sand section on Lap 5 their lines came together on the exit and they ended up colliding. As we witnessed, Roczen, who was on the outside, got the worst of it and went down hard. Anderson almost crashed himself but managed to save it and became the leader of the main event. Now, I’m sure Roczen wasn’t happy with the pass and most certainly the outcome, but I don’t think there is any cause for concern with it. Anderson didn’t go in there to make contact with Roczen, I think it was more or less the way the inside line had gotten blown out since the lap before. During the opening laps, the sand section had two distinctive lines (an outside line as well as an inside line) and they didn’t come together on the exit. These guys were coming into the corner with a lot of speed and with the turn being a right-hander, once they stuck out their right foot (and took it off of the rear brake) they were committed to that speed. The incident was unfortunate as you never want to see anyone go down like that, but it’s racing and I think it did give a glimpse of two things. First, Anderson is confident and he wants to win! Second, are Roczen’s best days now behind him? I know he won the opening round in Anaheim and that was just a few weeks ago. But since that win, he’s been well off of the pace. Right now, Roczen isn’t even the fastest rider on his HRC Honda Team let alone the 450SX Series. When Roczen got out front on Saturday night I thought it could be his night, but up against Anderson, Tomac, and Sexton, his speed and intensity are lacking. Perhaps this coming weekend’s Triple Crown format in Glendale will favour Roczen and get him back on track? In the past, he’s been good at these Triple Crown events. Roczen has to do something special in the next two races as right now he’s sitting 9th in points and 23 points out of the lead.
I’m not sure if you’ve been watching Dean Wilson’s Vlogs over the past few weeks but so far they’re been really telling on the frustration Deano has been going through each weekend. In a nutshell, Dean has been working hard and during the week at the practice track, he’s been as faster or faster than his teammates as well as the KTM riders. However, at the races, Dean hasn’t been able to find the speed and his results haven’t been what he’s wanted them to be. But all that appeared to change on Saturday night in Anaheim as Deano got off to a solid start in the main event and then was able to hold on to a solid 9th place finish. It was most certainly a step in the right direction for Deano and his team and hopefully, he can build on it this week and then come out swinging in Glendale.
So as the trio of Tomac, Anderson, and Sexton try and assert their dominance in this 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Series, what about the two-time and defending SX Champion Cooper Webb? So far this year he’s been off the overall pace of the three riders I just mentioned and on Saturday night he made an uncharacteristic mistake in the main event and went down. Things aren’t going terrible for Webb but by his high standards, they’re not going well. Even if you take his crash in the main event away his best lap time was almost two seconds slower than Anderson’s best time. Webb has built his reputation on being a main event guy and a rider that finds success when things get tough. So what is up with Webb? Is it the new KTM 450 which is drastically different than past models? Is it Webb’s departure from Aldon Baker’s strict off-season training regiment? Or is it simply these harder-packed west coast tracks that Webb has always seemed to struggle on. Let’s take it one by one:
First, Webb’s bike is new and these opening rounds could also be serving as glorified tests sessions to see how the bike responds to real race conditions. Webb definitely doesn’t look as comfortable on this new model, especially on the Anaheim 2 track as he struggled from the drop of the gate. The new bike looks a little lower in the rear end than last year’s model so Webb could be struggling for front-end grip as well as the overall balance of the bike. Second, as Chad Reed mentioned in an off-season interview no one has left the Baker’s Factory program and then still found the same success as when they were part of it. Athletes train hard for two reasons. So they’re physically ready for battle and so they mentally know that they can compete on the highest level in their sport. For the past few years, Webb has lined up knowing that he’s the fittest and strongest rider on the starting line and that knowledge has served him well. Now, I’m sure he did the exact same work in California during the off-season as he would’ve done at the Baker’s Factory in Florida. But I don’t think it’s the same and Webb does not look as prepared as he has during the past three seasons. Two of which he’s been crowned Monster Energy Supercross Champion. Thirdly, these last two races could just be a blip on the screen for Webb as he knows that the real series doesn’t begin until they head east to the soft and rutted tracks that make up the second half of the series. I don’t think Webb is currently in the same good place with his bike and comfort level as he’s been in the past few seasons, but I don’t think he’s out of it and his best races are still to come in 2022.
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and a great start to February. In closing, how about BC rider Alex Gatt who rode strong to finish 14th in the Supercross Futures race at Anaheim 2. Racing at Angel Stadium was a dream come true for Alex and his family so good on him for riding so well. Also, this coming weekend the Future West AX Championships resume in Chilliwack so I’m sure that everyone is looking forward to the gate dropping again on this wonderful series. Have a great week and let’s hope the Groundhog doesn’t see his shadow on Wednesday.
