10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ANAHEIM III SUPERCROSS

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a3Dungey0986Ryan Dungey now has an 11-point lead in the title chase.

By Jody Weisel

(1) THIS WEEK’S AMA MIND BOGGLER: If a rider’s gate fails to fall it is required in the rule book that the race be red flagged. In the situation at A3, Zach Osborne’s night could have been ruined when he was left on the starting line. And as the 250 West main event droned on, Osborne was bewildered by what had happened. He expected a red flag. It didn’t happen right away. In fact the race was almost 1/3rd over before the AMA  acted. The same people who had black flagged Chad Reed in an instant two weeks earlier, took five long laps to look at a replay, which had already been played on TV, before deciding to red flag the race (as it entered the sixth lap) and restart it. This is classic case of over-reacting with Reed and then being gun shy the next time they were required to do something.

A3-web-12The red flag in the 250 main was not a friend of Malcolm Stewart.

JESSY NELSON ON THE 250 WEST RESTART

(2) THE RED FLAG’S EFFECT: Obviously the big winner in the red flag incident was Zach Osborne. Instead of being left at the altar, he got to be a groomsman by finishing fourth overall after the restart. And, because of the red flag and what happened after the restart, Osborne now sits third in 250 West points. The rippling effects of the red flag were major for the title chase. On the lap that the red flag was flown, Cooper Webb was first, Matt Biscelgia was second, Tyler Bowers third and Malcolm Stewart fourth. They were clear of any mayhem and in solid positions to have a good result. After the restart, Webb was back in first place and Bisceglia held onto a fifth (which was strong after missing last week’s race). But, Bowers and Stewart ended up crashing bad enough (or enough times in Stewart’s case) to ruin their nights and maybe their seasons. Bowers could only claw his way back to 15th (losing 19 points to Cooper Webb), while last week’s first-time winner Stewart was 17th (a loss of 21 points).

A3-web-13In practice the sand section looked good. In the race it didn’t.

(3) WHO MURDERED THE SAND? The Oakland sand section was the best of the year. The sand was piled deep and sculpted into two equal lanes. At Oakland the riders could choose either the tight inside or the longer outside and end up side-by-side on the exit of the right/left S-turn. Anaheim’s sand looked like an afterthought. It was weak, shallow and poorly designed. The less-than-adequate amount of sand actually wore down to the hard-pack underneath it by main event time. We are positive that there are way too many step-on/step off tabletops and not enough wheels-on-the ground sections. Anaheim II’s sand was more like a gravel pit.

A3-web-17Davi is better than he’s showing.

(4) MILLSAPS’ SEASON: This season there have been ten 450 semis with 10 different winners. Davi Millsaps joined the list in Anaheim III and it was the highlight of his day…and perhaps the highlight of his season. Kawasaki alluded to the fact that Davi entered the season with “health issues” that they knew would take him “four or five races” to come back to from. It is obviously going to take much longer as the only factory rider that Davi beat at A3 was…well, he didn’t beat anyone with a full-boat works ride. And he didn’t make the top ten (finishing 11th behind a revitalized Josh Hill for 11th, but in front of Short, Friese, Chisholm and Weimer).

A3-anderson28Jason Anderson (21) had a great start to the season, but he’s had a few bad weeks. Chad Reed (22) had a bad start to the season, but now he’s cooking with gasoline.

(5) CHAD’S NOT COMPLETELY BACK: Although Chad Reed surprised a lot of people with his podium in Oakland (after mediocre 10ths in the first two rounds and DQ in the third), he is back in fighting spirit. Chad has always been a fighter, but he seems to need motivation to rise to the occasion. A couple years ago, Chad was written off when he couldn’t get a ride from anybody. Chad fought back by having Pro Circuit build him private Honda’s. He formed his own team, reinvented himself and did well enough to move his team into the Honda road race shop the next year. Then, his relationship with Honda soured, as had his relationships with Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. So, for 2014, he was written off again and ended up having Pro Circuit build him Kawasaki’s. Now, he’s back in the good graces of Kawasaki and working his way back where he belongs. Chad Reed’s story is a good read, a cautionary tale about burning bridges and a ode to never saying die. Chad’s season turned around after he got DQ’ed for the Canard incident. That fueled for his fire. Chad was sixth at A3. Bob’s your uncle!

a3Nelson1118Jessy Nelson (28) can’t get through the whoops.

(6) THE LAST CHANCE’S SILENT MOVIE: Being a race announcer is a thankless job. The fans love-to-hate whoever is on the screen, then, when they are gone (well, after a decent memorial period) they are suddenly declared “great” and the new crew is deemed terrible. Art Eckman and David Bailey weren’t always fan favorites during their heyday, but they are revered now. We aren’t fans of having Ricky Carmichael, Ralph Shaheen and Jeff Emig in the booth at the same time. It just muddles up the mix. They should have one color commentator, and we are fine with Jeffro because we don’t think the English language could survive a full night of Ricky by himself. This leads us to the in-booth announcing of the 450 Last Chance race at A3. You could hear crickets from your TV set as silence reigned supreme. Perhaps there was a technical glitch, but neither Ralph nor Jeff seemed to be able to recognize anyone on the track. And rather than miss speak, they no spoke.

A3Shortr4r4rThis year’s holeshot king, Andrew Short, lost his mojo on Anaheim III’s BMX-style starting gate.

(7) THE BMX INFLUENCE: Dirt is a valuable commodity to the Supercross promoters, so to build a seven-foot-tall BMX-style starting ramp for A3 was a brave move. Gravity is the friend of any rolling vehicle and, in most of the starts, all 22 riders got away from the gate cleanly. There were holeshots from the outside, middle and inside. Luckily, A3 had a fairly long start straight by modern standards, but nothing compared to the great around-the-perimeter of the stadium starts of the glory days. A3’s long start could accommodate the extra speed and the number of riders who stayed close together on the run to the first turn.

A3tomac55Eli Tomac’s last lap pass on Ken Roczen for the last step on the podium was a testament to determination.

(8) RYAN DUNGEY’S COMING OUT PARTY: Let’s not get too misty about Ryan Dungey’s first win of the 2015 season. It was bound to happen sooner or later—it’s all part of Dungey’s grand strategy, which no matter much people whine about, does work, has worked in the past and is working right now. Dungey’s plan is to not get too excited, not to make any mistakes, to not to risk a good placing in hopes of one extra spot and to wait for the series to come to him (as opposed to chasing it too hard). Anaheim III was Dungey’s 15th 450 Supercross win of his career. No one who wins a Supercross has it easy, based on the effort it took to get them to the front, but Ryan had a fairly easy night — helped by the fact that Cole Seely was in second place to act as a buffer against his main rivals; Roczen, Tomac and Canard. Tomac got third with a hard charging, and inspiring, pass on Ken Roczen on the very last lap. Roczen was fourth, and was obviously suffering from some of the effects of last week’s bomb drop out of the sky. Canard was fifth, stymied by his own case of the dropsies, when he pushed the front end in a bowl turn.

A3-web-32Although he owned Anaheim I and II, Ken never came to terms with the layout of A3. Letting his competition beat him was abad thing for a rider who wants to be dominant. It builds up their confidence.

(9) FRESH BLOOD: It was obvious that after Roczen’s crash in Oakland, the Dungey, Canard and Tomac camps smelled blood in the water. They attacked Roczen relentlessly all night long, and he cracked under the pressure…not a lot, but a lot more than it looked like he would earlier in the season. Also rising to the occasion was Cole Seely, who not only rode brilliantly for the first three-quarters of the 450 main, but upped his game when Roczen and Tomac came to get him. They didn’t get him—which is something to be proud of. Additional kudos to Blake Baggett. The rookie had speed, he showed some serious race savvy and looked, for the first time this year, like he belonged up there. Yes, they did whittle him back to seventh by the end of the race, but Blake now has something to build on. He’s seen the front and should be able to get there more often.

a3seely44Cole Seely had the night of his career.

(10) MATH IN MOTO: Ryan Dungey built up his lead over Roczen to 11 points and 23 points on both Tomac and Canard (who are tied for third). Every one after Dungey, Roczen and Canard no longer has 12 races left in their season, but 11. Why? Because Dungey already has a one Supercross lead on them in points (more than 25 points). Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, Cole Seely and Chad Reed are all one race behind the points leader. Even worse — Davi Millsaps, Blake Baggett, Andrew Short, Jake Weimer, Broc Tickle and Weston Peick are two Supercrosses behind in the points (and Peick and Tickle are sidelined with injuries). Everyone from 15th place back has fallen three races behind after only five races.

a3Podium85Seely (left), Dungey (center) and Tomac (right) are as happy as can be on the podium.

ANAHEIM III RESULTS: 450 CLASS
1. Ryan Dungey…KTM
2. Cole Seely…Hon
3. Eli Tomac…Hon
4. Ken Roczen…Suz
5. Trey Canard…Hon
6. Chad Reed…Kaw
7. Blake Baggett…Suz
8. Justin Barcia…Yam
9. Jason Anderson…Hus
10. Josh Hill…Yam
Other notables: 11. Davi Millsaps; 12. Andrew Short; 17. Mike Alessi; 18. Brett Metcalfe; 22. Josh Grant.

ANAHEIM III RESULTS: 250 WEST
1. Cooper Webb…Yam
2. Jessy Nelson…KTM
3. Aaron Plessinger…Yam
4. Zach Osborne…Hus
5. Matt Bisceglia…Hon
6. Shane McElrath…KTM
7. Josh Hansen…Kaw
8. Justin Hill…KTM
9. Alex Martin…Yam
10. Cole Martinez…Yam
Other notables: 11. Jackson Richardson; 12. Tommy Hahn; 14. Chris Alldredge; 15. Tyler Bowers; 17. Malcolm Stewart; 21. Zach Bell.

COLE SEELY’S POST-RACE INTERVIEW

450 AMA POINTS STANDINGS
(After 5 of 17 races)
1. Ryan Dungey…107
2. Ken Roczen…96
3. Eli Tomac…84
4. Trey Canard…84
5. Jason Anderson…74
6. Justin Barcia…58
7. Cole Seely…45
8. Andrew Short…43
9. Davi Milsaps…43
10. Chad Reed…42

cooperwebbplessinger220Star Yamaha had both Plessinger (157) and Webb (17) on the podium.

250 WEST AMA POINTS STANDINGS
(After 5 of 8 races)
1. Cooper Webb…111
2. Jessy Nelson…93
3. Zach Osborne…87
4. Tyler Bowers…84
5. Justin Hill…78
6. Aaron Plessinger…74
7. Malcolm Stewart…68
8.  Shane McElrath…64
9. Josh Hansen…61
10. Alex Martin…59

 

Photos: Troy Leed designs, KTM, Husqvarana, Geico Honda, Yamaha Racing, Travis Fant, John Ker

 

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