Behind The Lens From Anaheim 1 Presented By Fox Racing Canada
Over the years, the Monster Energy Supercross Series opening round in Anaheim has become the most anticipated race of the year. Everyone gets excited for Anaheim 1, so it was no surprise that the excitement was at an all-time high this past weekend. Could Jett Lawrence continue his winning ways? How would Eli Tomac do after his long layoff? And, would any other 450SX riders step up and take the win at the opening round? These questions were all answered on Saturday night as Jett rode off with the win. Eli looked a little rusty, and it was good to see Anderson and Webb have some good speed this early in the series. Round 1 in Anaheim didn’t disappoint and certainly set the stage for the rest of the 2024 SX Series. So, before we look ahead to San Francisco this coming weekend, let’s look back at some incredible James Lissimore photos from Saturday night at Angel Stadium.
The most famous sign in Supercross!The new schedule is great for people on the east coast, but fireworks don’t look the same at 5pm local time. The A1 track started off technical but the riders quickly figured things out. The right hand first turn didn’t seem to give the riders too much trouble. When it counted the most, Jett Lawrence grabbed the holeshot and never looked back. After a tough year in 2023, Jason Anderson had a solid opening round and looks to be back on track. Justin Barcia has won a few opening rounds in the past, but this year he looked like he didn’t want to push things and settled for 7th. One the surprises from A1 was the speed of young Julien Beaumer. The KTM rider rode solid and finished 6th in the 250SX West main event. Riding with broken thumb and a case of Mono, Julien Benek qualified for the main event with a strong 2nd in the LCQ. It was great to see another OEM on the track as Benny Bloss was racing the new Beta. Although Adam Cianciarulo looked fast at A1, he couldn’t have been happy with his 12th place finish. One of the most exciting moments from Saturday night was when Cade Clason held Hunter Lawrence off for the final transfer spot in the 450SX main event. One the best rides from the opening round came from Justin Cooper as he charged from 16th to 8th in the main event. We’re not sure what happened to Christian Craig but he ended not finishing the 450SX main event. After falling in love with his new Honda during the off-season, Dylan Ferrandis rode great at A1 and finished 5th OA.Just as we predicted, RJ Hampshire took the 250SX West win at the season opener. Mitchell Harrison was at A1 racing in the 450 class. Sadly, he didn’t make the main event on his PRMX Kawasaki. Jett Lawrence picked right up where he left off last season as he dominated the 450SX main event in Anaheim. Levi Kitchen and Max Vohland looked solid at A1 on their new Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s. After crashing in turn one in his heat race, and then getting off to a horrible start in the LCQ, Hunter Lawrence didn’t even make it to the main event. Aaron Plessinger did what he usually does in Anaheim, he rode smart and finished inside the top five. World Champ Jorge Prado rode well in this first ever SX, finishing 13th in the 450SX main event. Ken Roczen started his night off with an awesome heat race win. Sadly, a pile up off the start took Kenny out and he was forced to charge from last to 10th. Even though Chase Sexton ended up on the podium at A1, he didn’t seem happy with his riding. Jo Shimoda had an off night in Anaheim, but he fought back for a solid 4th OA in the 250SX West main event. Our boy St-Cyr didn’t make the 250SX West main event, but he rode well and should be better this weekend in SF. Malcolm Stewart came into A1 as one of the favourites to win the 450SX main event. However, all day long he struggled to find speed and then a crash off the start ruined his chances of a good finish in the main event. Cole Thompson had a solid heat race where he finished 5th. But, in the main event he got off to a bad start, then rode well for the first half, but ended up 12th OA. Eli Tomac was not happy with his result at the opening round. He admitted after the race that he felt rusty, but vowed to be better at Round 2. Cooper Webb came out swinging his heat race and passed Jett Lawrence to take the win. In the main event, he rode well while he battled Anderson for second. Unfortunately, a late race crash pushed him back to 6th OA. Dean Wilson is riding better than he has in years. Sadly, in the main event he got taken out by Vince Friese on lap one and was only able to charge back to 16th.