Eli Tomac has raced a total of nine laps in 2014. Injuries (shoulder, which forced him to miss four rounds) and bike problems upon his return (flat in main at Anaheim 3) have given the rookie little in the form of 450SX experience. One the bright side, with no title pressure Tomac can step back and really look at 2014 as a learning year.
"Today I just wanted to get back in the groove as much as I could and learn things about the bike," Tomac said in a team release. "I was shooting for a top-five in the main but I ended up getting a flat, which is something that is just so rare with these things. I can't even remember the last time I had a flat tire.
"Overall it was a good day of learning, and I did some stuff on the track that the other guys weren't doing so it was fun,” he continued. “I think my shoulder probably is 80 to 90 percent strength-wise. I did feel it getting a bit weak there in the main before the flat, so I know I still need to build strength back so I can attack the whole time."
Tomac’s GEICO Honda teammates didn’t fare well in the final visit to Anaheim. Zach Osborne went down hard in practice and had to leave with a shoulder injury. Osborne will miss San Diego but will be back for Houston on April 5. Meanwhile, Tomac’s 450 companion, Wil Hahn, injured his hand in a practice crash, but was able to grind out a twelfth.
"I've always enjoyed Anaheim and the GEICO Honda team has won a bunch of races here over the years, but today I really couldn't wait for this thing to end," said Hahn in a team release. "I had a spill in the whoops section earlier today and hurt my hand. I was doing as much therapy as possible between sessions, but it really started hurting by about lap 15 in the main. I was just counting down the laps from there.”
Hahn’s big crash took place in the super tough whoop section, but to his credit, when we saw Wilbur after the crash, he still said he liked tracks with big whoops. “I hope they leave them like that,” he said. “It was my fault that I made a mistake. I like technical tracks.”
On to the lap times!
450SX Class
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 2 | 1:02.724 | 4 | 1:03.633 | Ken Roczen |
2 | 1 | 1:02.893 | 1 | 1:03.623 | Chad Reed |
3 | 4 | 1:03.097 | 4 | 1:04.371 | Justin Barcia |
4 | 7 | 1:03.136 | 9 | 1:04.395 | James Stewart |
5 | 20 | 1:03.225 | 9 | 1:03.821 | Ryan Dungey |
6 | 3 | 1:03.236 | 5 | 1:04.141 | Ryan Villopoto |
7 | 5 | 1:03.415 | 6 | 1:04.778 | Weston Peick |
8 | 9 | 1:03.773 | 5 | 1:05.610 | Andrew Short |
9 | 6 | 1:03.964 | 7 | 1:05.077 | Justin Brayton |
10 | 8 | 1:04.287 | 7 | 1:05.176 | Jake Weimer |
11 | 21 | 1:04.304 | 3 | 1:05.454 | Eli Tomac |
12 | 10 | 1:04.787 | 5 | 1:05.814 | Ivan Tedesco |
13 | 11 | 1:04.946 | 7 | 1:06.011 | Broc Tickle |
14 | 22 | 1:04.919 | 1 | 1:04.919 | Mike Alessi |
15 | 12 | 1:05.030 | 4 | 1:06.090 | Wil Hahn |
16 | 13 | 1:05.157 | 11 | 1:06.284 | Nick Wey |
17 | 14 | 1:05.220 | 6 | 1:06.403 | Matt Moss |
18 | 16 | 1:05.524 | 8 | 1:06.290 | Vince Friese |
19 | 15 | 1:05.601 | 4 | 1:06.883 | Jimmy Albertson |
20 | 17 | 1:05.672 | 6 | 1:07.677 | Josh Grant |
21 | 18 | 1:06.244 | 7 | 1:07.678 | Matt Goerke |
22 | 19 | 1:07.134 | 6 | 1:08.895 | Chris Blose |
250SX Class
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 2 | 1:02.145 | 1 | 1:04.705 | Cole Seely |
2 | 5 | 1:02.895 | 15 | 1:04.346 | Jason Anderson |
3 | 1 | 1:03.301 | 1 | 1:04.242 | Dean Wilson |
4 | 3 | 1:03.734 | 2 | 1:05.101 | Cooper Webb |
5 | 6 | 1:04.002 | 7 | 1:05.789 | Malcolm Stewart |
6 | 7 | 1:04.010 | 2 | 1:06.095 | Jake Canada |
7 | 4 | 1:04.500 | 6 | 1:05.170 | Justin Hill |
8 | 8 | 1:04.764 | 5 | 1:06.342 | Shane McElrath |
9 | 9 | 1:05.074 | 4 | 1:06.627 | Jessy Nelson |
10 | 10 | 1:06.432 | 4 | 1:07.577 | Dakota Tedder |
11 | 11 | 1:06.908 | 14 | 1:07.578 | Dean Ferris |
12 | 12 | 1:07.171 | 3 | 1:08.621 | Scott Champion |
13 | 15 | 1:07.476 | 4 | 1:10.025 | Valentin Teillet |
14 | 13 | 1:07.773 | 3 | 1:09.139 | Topher Ingalls |
15 | 14 | 1:07.900 | 2 | 1:09.403 | Preston Mull |
16 | 16 | 1:08.101 | 2 | 1:10.421 | Brandon Scharer |
17 | 17 | 1:09.220 | 4 | 1:11.506 | Chris Howell |
18 | 18 | 1:09.355 | 2 | 1:12.995 | Shawn Rhinehart |
19 | 22 | 1:10.057 | 5 | 1:12.123 | Conner Elliott |
20 | 19 | 1:11.183 | 3 | 1:13.909 | Jean Marrone |
21 | 21 | 1:11.285 | 2 | 1:16.804 | Brandon Rangel |
22 | 20 | 1:11.338 | 3 | 1:14.404 | Joseph Dalzell |
Ken Roczen, Ryan Villopoto and eventual winner Chad Reed were joined at the hip for a majority of the race, before Roczen and Reed separated from RV. Let’s take a look at their lap times to see what laps Roczen and Reed were able make up the most time.
Lap | Chad Reed | Ken Roczen | Ryan Villopoto |
1 | 1.02.893 | 1.03.895 | 1.03.892 |
2 | 1.03.130 | 1.03.034 | 1.03.723 |
3 | 1.03.188 | 1.03.258 | 1.03.434 |
4 | 1.03.318 | 1.02.724 | 1.04.841 |
5 | 1.03.484 | 1.03.120 | 1.03.236 |
6 | 1.03.212 | 1.03.328 | 1.03.284 |
7 | 1.03.685 | 1.03.788 | 1.03.520 |
8 | 1.03.656 | 1.03.445 | 1.03.543 |
9 | 1.04.206 | 1.03.827 | 1.03.572 |
10 | 1.04.025 | 1.04.160 | 1.03.610 |
11 | 1.03.366 | 1.03.673 | 1.03.526 |
12 | 1.03.482 | 1.03.210 | 1.03.666 |
13 | 1.03.709 | 1.03.931 | 1.03.459 |
14 | 1.03.453 | 1.03.662 | 1.04.027 |
15 | 1.03.808 | 1.03.997 | 1.03.959 |
16 | 1.04.105 | 1.03.719 | 1.04.511 |
17 | 1.03.740 | 1.04.238 | 1.05.056 |
18 | 1.04.464 | 1.03.739 | 1.05.309 |
19 | 1.03.723 | 1.03.850 | 1.05.703 |
20 | 1.03.828 | 1.04.065 | 1.06.968 |
While Justin Barcia’s (fourth) and Weston Peick’s (fifth) banner nights are gaining most of the attention, another rider struggling in the early portion of the season got a much needed top 10 at Anaheim 3. Monster Energy’s Jake Weimer, who has dealt with a myriad of problems in 2014, finished a season-high eighth on the night.
Rockstar Energy KTM’s Ivan Tedesco made the switch to the 350SX-F at A3—he raced the 450 at the first four rounds—and finished inside the top ten for the first time in 2014.
“Coming into the week I really didn’t know what to expect,” Tedesco told Racer X. “I was faster on it during the week at our track and I don’t get as tired on it. I really didn’t know. The one big question was the starts on it. I felt like they were fine. I didn’t have the best qualifying position so my starting gates weren’t the greatest.”
Mike Alessi, who has been battling illness over the past few weeks, finally felt healthy at A3—and it showed. Alessi moved into fourth early in the race, passing James Stewart in the process, before a mechanical (brake problems) would end his night early.
Want to know something cool? Ryan Villopoto and Jake Weimer’s Monster Energy Kawasaki bikes use titanium front spokes. There you go.
Kawasaki also presented Villopoto with a championship ring at A3. Kawasaki President Tak Tarinishi, Vice President of Product Development and Racing Shinichiro Yokoyama, and Kawasaki Senior Racing Manager Reid Nordin all gathered to present Villopoto with championship ring featuring a diamond for each championship in 2013.
Oh and speaking of spokes, BTOSports.com KTM’s Andrew Short lost some in a main event tangle with Justin Brayton. He hung on to finish ninth. Shorty has been in the top ten in all five races this year.
Josh Hill, as expected, missed the race with a broken collarbone suffered last week in Oakland. However, Hill says surgery to install a plate over the broken bone went very well and the Soaring Eagle Casino RCH Suzuki rider was tempted to try racing Anaheim. He thought better of it, but hasn’t ruled out San Diego yet, either.
On the other end, gutty ride for Hill’s teammate Broc Tickle, who is dealing with rib and wrist injuries but fought to an eleventh in the 450 main.
No official word yet, but early indications are that privateer Kyle Partridge suffered a torn ACL in practice. Partridge had made all four main events on the season before the injury. We will have more news as it becomes available.
See what the dr says Monday but pretty sure I'm out for the year. Torn acl. Never been so bummed in my life.
— Kyle Partridge (@partridge_kyle) February 2, 2014
Team Tedder/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dakota Tedder pieced together his best ride of the season at A3, claiming his first top ten of the year.