At Anaheim 1, everyone complained that the track was too easy. You’re not hearing that anymore. The last few weeks have featured extra-steep jumps and tricky sections. The San Diego track wasn’t as peaked out, but it packed a lot of jumps into small spots, and the riders were challenged to nail their rhythms perfect on every lap. It got especially tough late in the 450 main event, with Ken Roczen pressing Trey Canard hard. Credit to Canard, who nailed the tough sections—a triple onto table, and a triple-triple-triple section—every single time to keep Roczen at bay.
Trey Canard finally got a good start in the main event, and he took full advantage. Not like going faster and getting around Ken Roczen is easy, but he did it early and then took off. The key was actually picking up on a line used by Eli Tomac in a heat race, and using that to make the pass for the lead. Roczen lost time, then made it all back, then applied serious heat for the lead. Kudos to Canard for hanging tough under such intense pressure. Trey's still 18 points back from leader Ryan Dungey, but this field is tight and anything happen.
After a massive case/face in Oakland, and a sub par fourth last weekend at Anaheim 3, Roczen admitted after this San Diego race that his confidence was shaken just a tad bit. He was also frustrated with his starts. His main event holeshot ended that tiny start slump, and although he didn’t win, getting back on the podium and challenging for the win gets him back on track.
The early laps are just killing Eli Tomac. On some weeks, he’s gotten good starts but has been outmaneuvered in the first few corners, losing valuable positions. Other times, he’s made big mistakes. At Anaheim 1 he went down on lap one, and he did the same here after tangling with Chad Reed. He charged from way back to fifth, but wit that kind of speed, you have to wonder about what might have been. "We were pushing extremely hard from the start of the race through the first few laps and all the fast guys were right up front," said Tomac in a team statement. "You never want to let the leaders gap you, so I was pressing hard and just went down. I tried to jump right up and get back in the race but had to wait a few seconds because there was a lot of traffic. From that point on it was basically damage-control. You see all the guys at the top of the standings are up front and you don't want to give up any more points than you have to. I'm not happy right now, but sometimes over the course of a 17-race season you have to be content with a fifth-place finish and the points you earn."
Blake Baggett is turning heads with his recent rides. He was landed on in his heat race and started way back in his semi, sending him to the LCQ, where he qualified in the very final spot. In the main, with a bad gate pick, he started last, but somehow ripped through the field to get to fifth. Then he tagged a tough block, crashed, and found his shift lever bent. Stuck in first gear, he hung on for seventh. “I could jump all the jumps in first…but just barely,” Baggett explained. “We’re getting there, but some things take a long time.”
Cole Seely rode really well on the technical track, even winning his heat race over Roczen, Canard and Dungey. He tangled with another rider on the first lap and had to roll the triple, which put him way back, and then he cased a jump later and smashed his chest on his bar pad. That took some wind out of his sails, but he still finished sixth. “We had a good vibe going here, with me and Trey, and Eli, all riding well in practice we were thinking maybe a Honda podium sweep,” said Seely. “I can’t be too mad with a sixth, I would have loved to have had that at Anaheim 1.”
We finally know what’s been ailing Monster Energy Kawaski’s Davi Millsaps. He told us he’s had a major illness for months, not weeks, and was barely able to do more than two laps at a time during the week. He’s finally over the issue now, but has lost a lot of fitness in the meantime. Millsaps looked much faster all day, but knew endurance could be a problem. In the end, two crashes knocked him from up front to an 18th place finish.
Andrew Short is also not quite where he wants to be, as his huge crash at Anaheim 2 has left him a little beat up. He keeps nailing his starts, though. “Yeah but it’s tough when you get up front and you’ve been hurting a little bit,” said Short. He finished eighth.
Shane McElrath has been faster than his results show this year, until now, with a strong second-place finish. “I’m really happy to end on a high going into the break,” said McElrath in a team statement. “Actually a little bummed there is a break because I feel like I could continue with this momentum, but glad I was finally able to put it all together. I knew I just needed to get a start and just push forward. I just tried to stay at it and it paid off.”
Things went from bad to worse for Red Bull KTM’s Justin Hill, who won San Diego a year ago. The 250SX rider got his leg run over by Shane McElrath off the start, and it might be broken. Hill put his foot on the peg and rode through three corners before realizing he was in major pain. Early x-rays showed nothing, but Hill will get more looks this week.
GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart was with the lead pack off the start but made a mistake and crashed on the first lap. He got up slowly and was quickly getting lapped. Then he crashed again, and his night was over.
Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger, a podium finisher a week ago, had terrible starts all night and a few wild moments.
