The 2022 AMA Supercross season in the United States kicked off with a stunning win to German star Ken Roczen, sending a signal that this may be the year he finally defies history to make the greatest comeback ever in sporting history.
Forget Tiger Woods and his comeback from injury to play to golf again … remember that Roczen was just moments away from surgeons deciding to amputate an arm after one of the most horrific injuries ever sustained in supercross.
Now he’s back on top of one of the truly toughest sports in the world and he now just needs to stay there for 16 more rounds of the high-profile American series.
Roczen has opened his 2022 Monster Energy Supercross campaign in perfect style, taking a wire-to-wire win as racing returned to its traditional season-opening venue of Anaheim on Saturday evening (Sunday NZ time).
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart put the field on notice early when he topped the timesheets in qualifying, edging out Monster Energy Star Racing’s latest signing, Eli Tomac, with Jason Anderson in his first ride for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team putting in the third-fastest qualifying lap time.
In the opening heat, Rocky Mountain ATV KTM’s Shane McElrath led the field through the first turn ahead of HRC Honda’s Chase Sexton and reigning supercross champion Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb.
McElrath, showed poise to hold off Sexton for the opening three laps before the 22-year-old moved his way into the lead and cruised to his first heat win for 2022 ahead of McElrath.
Webb worked his way through the field and got better as the track broke down to capture second position.
Behind him, Webb made things tough on himself with a tiny tip over costing him a handful of positions and allowing Tomac to slip through to the third position, with Troy Lee Designs Gas Gas rider Justin Barcia keeping his hopes of a fourth straight A1 victory insight with a 4th place finish ahead of Webb in 5th.
Heat two would prove to be a preview to the night’s main event, as Roczen powered to the lead out of the first turn and was never headed leading from start to finish.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Ciancarulo put a damaged shoulder behind him during the opening laps to hold down the second position before fading through the field, eventually finishing back in the 7th spot.
Elder statesman Justin Brayton showed his move back to the Motoconcepts Honda team was an excellent decision for both parties.
The 37-year-old former race winner crossed the finish line in second position, ahead of Malcolm Stewart.
At the same time, Aaron Plessinger put a disappointing qualifying session where he finished 19th behind him to claim 4th in his heat just ahead of Monster Energy Star Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis.
With the field set for the night’s main event, it was once again Roczen who led the field through the first turn, with team-mate Sexton in tow.
Sexton applied pressure to Roczen’s rear wheel for the opening eight laps as the Honda duo opened up a commanding lead over Cianciarulo in third.
Honda’s dream run of the possibility of a 1-2 finish ended on lap nine with the first of three mistakes from Sexton played out, with an error from Sexton gifting Cianciarulo second spot.
Cianciarulo’s second position was short-lived; however, as first Barcia followed by Anderson, then Webb moved around the injured rider setting up a showdown for the second position.
Anderson muscled Barcia out of the way to move into second place, but Barcia quickly made his presence felt and returned the gesture, leaving Anderson no room in a following corner to reclaim the second position and leaving Anderson on the ground in the process.
Webb was next to take a shot at Barcia for the second position, doing it in style with a clean pass and quickly put a small gap between himself and the Gas Gas rider.
Out front, Roczen backed things down and cruised to a 7-second win, leading home Webb and Barcia.
Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, who earlier put Stewart on the ground with an aggressive pass as he made his way through the field from a bad start, locked horns with Sexton in the final few laps, with the duo going back and forth on numerous occasions.
In the end, the French rider proved he was not afraid to rub plastics to claim forth side by side with Sexton, who, despite two crashes in the main event, still managed to finish in 5th.
Tomac worked his way to a 6th place finish ahead of an irate Stewart who was quick to take aim at Musquin after his 7th place finish.
Rocky Mountain ATV KTM’s Joey Savatgy put in a quiet but impressive ride to hold down 8th spot ahead of Plessinger in 9th and Anderson, who rebounded to 9th place after his earlier run-in with Barcia.
Meanwhile, in the 250cc West Coast Lites class, Christian Craig (Yamaha) celebrated his first first-ever 250cc class win at Anaheim, finishing ahead California’s Seth Hammaker (Kawasaki) and Australian Hunter Lawrence (Honda).
Photo courtesy HRC Honda
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450SX Class Championship Standings
- Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Honda (26)
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM (23)
- Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., GASGAS (21)
- Marvin Musquin, Corona, Calif., KTM (19)
- Chase Sexton, Clermont, Fla., Honda (18)
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Yamaha (17)
- Malcolm Stewart, Murrieta, Calif., Husqvarna (16)
- Joey Savatgy, Clermont, Fla., KTM (15)
- Aaron Plessinger, Leesburg, Fla., KTM (14)
- Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.Mex., Kawasaki (13)
250SX Class Championship Standings (Western Regional):
- Christian Craig, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (26)
- Seth Hammaker, Temecula, Calif., Kawasaki (23)
- Hunter Lawrence, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Honda (21)
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha (19)
- Vince Friese, Menifee, Calif., Honda (18)
- Michael Mosiman, Minneaola, Fla., GASGAS (17)
- Jo Shimoda, Menifee, Calif., Kawasaki (16)
- Robbie Wageman, Newhall, Calif., Yamaha (15)
- Dominique Thury, Scheenberg, GER, Yamaha (14)
- Carson Mumford, Simi Valley, Calif., Suzuki (13)
Also: 17th Dylan Walsh (New Zealand, Kawasaki).