Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey claims his first win of the year, while Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb lands his third 250cc win.
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey has been targeting a supercross victory since the start of the 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, and tonight at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, he put his KTM 450SX Factory Edition right in the center of the bullseye.
Dungey claimed his 14th career AMA 450cc Supercross win, his first win of the 2015 season and his first win since the 2013 Indy Supercross by getting a clean start in the 450cc main event and passing early leader Blake Baggett before going on to take full advantage of a clear track to win the race by 2.361 seconds over Team Honda’s Cole Seely, who claimed the best 450cc finish of his career by crossing the line in second. GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac finished third after a late-race pass on RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who missed out on the Anaheim sweep by finishing fourth.
In the 250cc class, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb initiated a chokehold on the rest of his competition in the AMA 250cc West Supercross Series standings by earning his third win of the season. Webb’s nearest title rival, Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull KTM’s Jessy Nelson, finished second, and Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger earned his first career AMA Supercross podium finish by coming home third. Plessinger is the son of two-time former AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Champion Scott Plessinger.
450cc Main
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett got the best start of his 450cc career, moving to the front of the 20-lap 450cc main event while Dungey ran second, just ahead of Team Honda teammates Cole Seely and Trey Canard. MotoConcepts Suzuki’s Mike Alessi ran fifth, ahed of Roczen, Tomac and Anderson, with Australians Metcalfe and Reed completing the top 10.
Dungey wasted little time in finding a way past Baggett, passing the setting up the Suzuki rider on the rhythm section just before the sand turn and making the pass just before they hit the corner. Seely tried to come with Dungey, and he passed Baggett two turns later to move into second place. Canard was also trying to find his way around Baggett as Roczen and Tomac were right behind him. Canard passed Baggett on lap three, and he closed in on Seely.
Baggett did a great job of holding off Roczen and Tomac in the battle for fourth place, and Roczen soon had a fight on his hands as Tomac began to challenge him for the fifth spot on lap eight.
Out front, Dungey was his typical smooth self, and he was able to put 2.5 seconds on Seely by the halfway point. Canard was riding smoothly, but he found himself another 1.2 seconds behind Seely in third. Canard’s chances for the win took a turn for the worse when he tucked the front in the sand turn and crashed on the same lap. He remounted in fifth place, behind Roczen and Tomac.
The battle between Roczen and Tomac heated up with three laps to go, when Tomac took a shoot at Roczen in the whoops, only to stumble and pack off. The two then stepped up their pace with two laps to go, bringing them within striking distance of Seely. Tomac finally made a move that stuck on the last lap, and all that remained to be seen was whether he could pass Seely for second place.
Dungey was well clear of that drama, however, as he crossed the finish line to score the win 2.361 seconds ahead of Seely, who just beat Tomac across the line to earn his best career Monster Energy AMA Supsercross finish. Roczen was fourth, followed by Canard. Reed managed to work his way up to sixth place, ahead of Baggett, Toyota JGR Yamaha’s Justin Barcia, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson and Monster Energy/Yamaha/Valley Motorsports’ Josh Hill.
With the win, Dungey extended his series point lead over Roczen. Dungey now leads Roczen 107-96. Tomac and Canard are now tied for third place with 84 points each.
“It kind of jabs when you have the red plate and you have no win,” Dungey said. “That was what I wanted. That’s what my goal was tonight, just not doing anything crazy but opening up like I needed to. It’s good to get this win. It has been a while since I’ve won at Anaheim. It feels nice.”
250cc Main
GEICO Honda’s Matt Bisceglia repeated his performance in the first 250cc heat race by grabbing the holeshot to start the 250cc main event, with Webb running second ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zack Bell third. Meanwhile, Bell’s teammate, Zach Osborne, got hung up behind the starting gate, which clearly malfunctioned in his starting position, and that would play into the main event outcome.
Bowers ran fourth with Stewart fifth by the time the race was two laps old. Bowers and Bell then began to swap positions briefly before Bell made a mistake and Bowers escaped.
Webb stalked Bisceglia through lap 5, before applying heavy pressure through the whoops and then cutting underneath him in the left-handed sand corner to take the lead. Webb quickly began to use the clear track to pull away from Bisceglia, while Bowers closed the gap to Bisecglia.
But the race was finally red-flagged just before the halfway point due to Osborne’s malfunctioning gate, and a complete restart was ordered.
Nelson got the holeshot on the restart, with Webb once again slotting into second place and Osborne making good by moving into third place, ahead of Aaron Plessinger and Bowers. Then Bowers mis-timed a rhythm section and went over the bars, dropping all the way to 20th place before he was able to get going again.
Up front, Nelson and Webb were making a good race of it for the lead while Plessinger and Osborne battled for third place some 6 seconds behind the leaders during lap five. Plessinger would pass Osborne in the sand for third place on lap seven.
Webb continued to pressure Nelson, and he finally took advantage of a good drive through one of the whoop sections to take the lead on lap eight. Nelson refused to give up, briefly retaking the lead in the sand turn, but Webb was able to smoothly pull away from Nelson, building a 1.8-second lead with five laps to go. That lead was doubled by the time Webb crossed the finish line to take his third race win of the season and establish himself as the man to beat in the AMA 250cc West Supercross Series.
“I was definitely not happy with that restart,” Webb said after the race. “I finally got a good start, and they went to the red flag. I was pretty upset, but luckily for me when I’m mad I ride well. It was just an awesome night for the whole squad. We won that race fair and square, my good buddy and teammate [Plessinger] got third, and my roommate, Cole Martinez got 10th. It was just an awesome night, and I can’t thank the Lord Jesus Christ, my mom and dad, my mechanic, Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha and my whole team. They work so hard. They go definitely unnoticed, I feel, sometimes.”
Webb extends his series point lead to 18 over Nelson, 111-93. Osborne is third, 24 points behind Webb, and Bowers is fourth, 27 points behind Webb.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Angel Stadium
Anaheim California
Results: January 31, 2015 (Round 5 of 17)
450cc Main
1. Ryan Dungey-KTM
2. Cole Seely-Hon
3. Eli Tomac-Hon
4. Ken Roczen-Suz
5. Trey Canard-Hon
6. Chad Reed-Kaw
7. Blake Baggett-Suz
8. Justin Barcia-Yam
9. Jason Anderson-Hus
10. Josh Hill-Yam
11. Davi Millsaps-Kaw
12. Andrew Short-KTM
13. Vince Friese-Hon
14. Kyle Chisholm-Kaw
15. Jake Weimer-Kaw
16. Jimmy Albertson-Yam
17. Mike Alessi-Suz
18. Brett Metcalfe-Suz
19. Ben Lamay-Yam
20. Phil Nicoletti-Yam
21. Nick Schmidt-Suz
22. Josh Grant-Kaw
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Point Standings (After 5 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-107/1 win
2. Ken Roczen-96/2 wins
3. Eli Tomac-84/1 win
Trey Canard-84/1 win
5. Jason Anderson-74
6. Justin Barcia-71
7. Cole Seely-67
8. Chad Reed-57
9. Davi Millsaps-54
Blake Baggett-54
11. Andrew Short-51
12. Jake Weimer-42
13. Broc Tickle-39
14. Weston Peick-32
15. Brett Metcalfe-30
16. Dean Wilson-23
Kyle Chisholm-23
18. Mike Alessi-21
19. Josh Hill-16
20. Justin Brayton-14
250cc Main
1. Cooper Webb-Yam
2. Jessy Nelson-KTM
3. Aaron Plessinger-Yam
4. Zach Osborne-Hus
5. Matt Bisceglia-Hon
6. Shane McElrath-KTM
7. Josh Hansen-Kaw
8. Justin Hill-KTM
9. Alex Martin-Yam
10. Cole Martinez-Yam
11. Jackson Richardson-Hon
12. Tommy Hahn-Hon
13. Zack Freeberg-Yam
14. Chris Alldredge-Kaw
15. Tyler Bowers-Kaw
16. Trevor Reis-Yam
17. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
18. Ryan Breece-Yam
19. Austin Politelli-Yam
20. Blake Lilly-KTM
21. Zach Bell-Hus
22. Johnny Jeldera-Hon
AMA 250cc West Supercross Series Point Standings (After 5 of 8 rounds)
1. Cooper Webb-111/3 wins
2. Jessy Nelson-93/1 win
3. Zach Osborne-87
4. Tyler Bowers-84
5. Justin Hill-78
6. Aaron Plessinger-74
7. Malcolm Stewart-68/1 win
8. Shane McElrath-64
9. Josh Hansen-61
10. Alex Martin-59
11. Tommy Hahn-44
12. Zach Bell-41
13. Matt Bisceglia-34
14. Zack Freeberg-32
15. Jackson Richardson-30
16. Cole Martinez-29
17. Michael Lieb-25
Scott Champion-25
19. Austin Politelli-18
20. Chris Alldredge-15
Your Privacy Choices