Sign of the (Lap) Times: Anaheim 2

Honda also had the legendary 1986 CR125R on display, as outfitted for Johnny O’Mara’s incredible performance at the ’86 Motocross des Nations in Italy. Also on display was Donnie Hansen’s full-works bike from 1982, which claimed Honda’s first-ever SX title. Look for a more in depth feature on the Hansen bike later this week.

Surprisingly enough, at A2 Ken Roczen qualified through a heat race for the first time this year—he had to race the semi at the first two races.

California’s weather has been hotter, windier and drier than usual over the last few weeks. That led to a hard, dry, rocky track. Said JGR Toyota Yamaha’s Justin Brayton: “The track was really breaking down by the main event—in the heat race I was able to turn with my front end, really turn down. By the main event, the tops of the berms were gone and you couldn’t do it. For some reason I really struggle in those conditions. I’m looking forward to some tracks with some ruts where you can really turn with the front end.”

With the rocks coming up, flat tires became an issue. Jimmy Albertson’s main event ended early with a flat, and Nick Wey had one too but managed to nurse it home for 15th. James Stewart also punctured a tire in practice.

Let’s get to the lap times:

450SX Class

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	51.882	18	52.852	Chad Reed
2	6	52.038	6	53.902	Ryan Dungey
3	3	52.096	5	53.025	Ken Roczen
4	2	52.183	6	53.053	James Stewart
5	11	52.198	6	53.578	Justin Barcia
6	5	52.330	6	53.755	Ryan Villopoto
7	4	52.597	4	53.131	Justin Brayton
8	10	52.996	13	54.426	Jake Weimer
9	9	53.218	11	54.287	Andrew Short
10	7	53.279	13	53.976	Weston Peick
11	8	53.295	5	54.170	Josh Hill
12	12	53.360	6	54.773	Wil Hahn
13	15	53.642	3	56.070	Nick Wey
14	14	53.970	3	56.082	Josh Grant
15	13	54.108	10	55.259	Ivan Tedesco
16	19	54.184	6	57.647	Matt Moss
17	16	54.398	5	55.778	Matt Goerke
18	22	54.441	4	56.092	Jimmy Albertson
19	17	54.920	6	55.800	Vince Friese
20	18	55.376	7	56.559	Mike Alessi
21	21	55.578	4	58.454	Kyle Partridge
22	20	55.621	5	58.656	Chris Blose

250SX Class

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Avg Lap Time	Rider
1	1	51.515	2	52.838	Cole Seely
2	4	51.656	3	52.721	Jason Anderson
3	2	51.934	3	54.303	Cooper Webb
4	7	52.023	3	54.185	Dean Wilson
5	6	52.826	3	54.422	Zach Osborne
6	5	53.010	10	54.206	Justin Hill
7	3	53.151	3	54.889	Malcolm Stewart
8	6	53.251	5	55.084	Shane McElrath
9	11	54.077	2	56.954	Dean Ferris
10	9	54.147	5	55.404	Michael Leib
11	10	54.558	7	56.034	Jessy Nelson
12	12	56.001	7	57.859	Dakota Tedder
13	18	56.143	5	57.655	Scott Champion
14	13	56.728	7	58.812	Cole Martinez
15	20	56.757	3	1:00.141	Austin Burns
16	15	57.035	9	59.344	Valentin Teillet
17	16	57.195	2	1:01.830	Chris Howell
18	14	57.814	2	59.360	Chris Plouffe
19	17	58.301	2	1:02.832	Conner Elliott
20	19	59.377	2	1:01.108	Chris Proscelle
21	21	1:00.291	2	1:00.291	Aaron Siminoe
22	22	1:03.766	2	1:03.766	Joseph Dalzell

 

Each week we delve into the lap charts, trying to find a hidden gem, something that sparks interest. With long-time rivals James Stewart and Chad Reed dipping into the fountain of youth and battling for the win, what could be a better comparison? Well, we actually found two that should spark some debate.

First, let’s take a side-by-side look at the final eight laps of Stewart and Reed.

Lap	Chad Reed	James Stewart
13	52.509	53.06
14	52.823	53.891
15	53.12	53.707
16	53.638	53.357
17	52.204	53.22
18	51.882	54.353
19	52.927	53.153
20	54.529	53.607

 

Reed, using an outside line through the whoops and a 90-degree turn to get a huge run at a series of on-offs, started upping his pace, reeled in Ken Roczen and Stewart—he was laying down 52s laps, compared to Stewart’s 53s. But if you want an all-time example of digging deep, on the lap Reed went for the lead on Stewart, he dipped all the way into the 51s with a 51.8. That was the fastest lap of the 450 main—on lap 18!

His charge came crashing down, literally, but Ryan Villopoto was also about to put on a similar run to get the lead, earlier in the race. Let’s have a look.

Lap	Ryan Villopoto	James Stewart
2	52.778	53.013
3	53.469	52.926
4	52.873	52.372
5	52.534	52.197
6	52.33	52.183
7	52.404	52.345
8	52.568	52.85
9	52.47	53.113
10	52.567	52.983
11	52.718	52.644
12	53.198	53.039
13	52.54	53.06
14	53.414	53.891

 

Stewart was outpacing RV early, but on lap nine, Villopoto found another gear and closed the gap. Ultimately, Villopoto’s chances ended after colliding with Stewart, but it would have been interesting to see how the two titans battled down the stretch—especially with a red-hot Reed in the shadows. Check out the times—they were pushing each other hard out front.

For the second consecutive week, Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Cole Seely set the fastest lap of the night—450SX and 250SX combined. Jason Anderson’s 51.656 was second behind Seely—Reed’s 51.8 was third fastest of the night and tops in the 450s.

Another week, another close battle on the lap charts in 450SX. Seven of the top eight lap times were set in 52-second range. 

It was a banner night for Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda in Anaheim. The team put two riders on the podium—Cole Seely and Malcolm Stewart—after Jason Anderson was docked two positions for jumping on the red cross flag. Anderson’s penalty gave Malcolm his first career supercross podium. Further, all four TLD riders—Seely, Stewart, Shane McElrath and Jessy Nelson—finished inside the top ten.

Vince Friese has come under heavy scrutiny for his on track antics. Off the track, though, Friese is viewed much differently. Need proof? Chris Blose was not going to be able to race Anaheim 2 due to bike problems. But Friese stepped in and loaned him a bike for the night. Blose finished 20th on the loaner bike—and actually ended up battling Friese on an identical bike in both the semi and LCQ.

While his main focus in 2014 is the 250SX East Region, Jimmy Decotis is getting some warm-up rides on the 450 out west. Decotis failed to make the main and later tweeted:

CycleTrader.com Rock River Yamaha’s Les Smith suffered four dislocated ribs in a practice crash in Anaheim. Smith, in obvious pain, soldiered on to the second practice but failed to make the main event after finishing 11th in the LCQ.

A week after a tremendous crash in Phoenix, which left him coughing up blood, Weston Peick tied a career-high at A2 with a seventh. Jason Weigandt will have more on Peick later this week in his weekly ReduX column.

With Jake Canada on the sideline, 51Fifty brought on Chris Plouffe—who had previously ridden for the team—for the weekend. The deal was only for one round, which leaves Plouffe looking for support the remainder of the West Region. He tweeted the following today:

Trying to make something happen so I can race the rest of the west coast rounds! Hopefully figure something out soon!