Always expect the unexpected in supercross! The big three of last year didn’t feature at all for the win as Jason Anderson took his first win since 2018 in his second race on the Kawasaki!
Adam Cianciarulo took the holeshot with Roczen just outside the top five and Tomac and Webb buried mid-pack. Cianciarulo rode really well for a few laps early but Jason Anderson eventually made the move to take the d and Aaron Plessinger followed suit to tag unto the back of Anderson.
Cianciarulo still had a decent pace for a while but eventually that shoulder forced his to drop back to 12th as Barcia took third. Ken Roczen looked like he was going to challenge for at least a podium and was going after Barcia but he crashed in the whoops a couple of laps in and couldn’t come back inside the top ten, finishing 13th.
Late in the race, Eli Tomac got his way up to fourth but wasn’t close enough to Barcia to pressure him for the podium as Cooper Webb never really found his flow after a bad start to take seventh with Ferrandis suffering another bad start outdoe the top ten to pass Webb and take sixth.
Anderson meanwhile got up to nearly a four second lead over Plessinger at the flag to take a huge win and put himself into title contention!
Anderson said: “Since I won that champions it’s been a rollercoaster mentally. I was thankful Kawi signed me up it was a breath of fresh air. Last year I lost my grandma and she went to all my races. It’s been tough, it’s tested me. This one feels so damn good, I’m so excited.”
Justin Barcia now leads the series thanks to his early season consistency with two third places, and he will get to wear the red plate on the Gas Gas next weekend. This championship is wide open!
In the 250 class it was the Christian Craig show again. Christian made the move on Jo Shimoda after the young Japanese rider stalled under pressure early, to walk away with the win and yet again made it look easy! Behind him it was drama, as Shimoda executed a perfect front flip in the whoops to take himself out of second. Then, Michael Mosiman went down while seeking to challenge Seth Hammaker for second, leaving Hunter Lawrence to battle Hammaker for the runner-up spot for the second week in a row! Both got sketchy in the whoops but it was Hunter who made the pass to take a strong second but it was Craig extending his lead in the series, making it two out of two so far this season.
Craig said: “It’s always cool to win and to do it two weeks in a row is special, it’s cool to start the season like this. It was a great race. I clicked off my laps, I had a couple of sketchy moments in the rhythms but just managed my race.”
Report: Jonathan McCready