Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac has become the fourth different winner in as many rounds of 2022 Monster Energy Supercross, stepping up at Anaheim 2 to increase his lead in the 450SX point-standings as Christian Craig won in 250SX West.

After taking over the red plate last weekend despite having no wins, Tomac cemented himself atop the standings by earning a first victory since making his high-profile switch to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha in the pre-season.

Early leader Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) went down by virtue of unintentional contact made by Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in the sand with around 15 minutes remaining, dropping him well down the order, which enabled the latter to take over at the front until he made a mistake soon afterwards.

While Anderson was able to keep it on track, his error was enough to let Tomac sweep by and he wasn’t headed from there – winning by 4.619s in a dominant performance to become the fourth different winner in four races.

Behind him, Anderson recovered for the runner-up, with Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) claiming another podium result in third position. Tomac’s teammate Dylan Ferrandis was strong yet again in fourth, while Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) took fifth after he managed to start up front this time around.

The top 10 also featured Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) despite losing the front-end midway through, Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) in one of his better rides of the year to date.

Roczen, meanwhile, finished down the order in 13th place with another dent in his title prospects. Also enduring a tough main event, Plessinger crashed out on the second lap, with Brayton also later going out after he went down while in 11th position.

The 2022 Monster Energy Supercross series now sees Tomac build a six-point buffer at the front, followed by Sexton, with Anderson ranked third ahead of Glendale’s first of the Triple Crown rounds next Saturday night.

Image: Octopi Media.

Points-leader Craig extended with a third 250SX class win of the season at A2, stamping his authority on the series in convincing fashion.

There was no stopping Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Craig on his way to a third victory in four races, overcoming longtime leader Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) to stand atop the podium.

It was Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) who led initially before Mosiman made his way by, with Craig giving chase from outside of the podium positions. The red plate-holder made his way into P2 by lap four and then made a move stick on Mosiman on lap 10, stretching away from there to win by 2.948s.

Mosiman wasn’t quite at the level of Craig on his way to the runner-up, while behind them, Lawrence made it four-straight podiums in third tonight, but only after Friese crashed in the whoops with two laps to run and was struck by Jo Shimoda, who also went down.

Unfortunately for Friese, he wasn’t able to remount after showing genuine pace throughout the round, while Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Shimoda – again affected on a luckless evening – managed his way back to seventh position.

With Lawrence salvaging third, fourth came Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), comfortably ahead of the improving Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Carson Brown (AEO Powersports KTM) starred in claiming sixth ahead of Shimoda.

The top 10 was completed by Carson Mumford (BarX Suzuki) over Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha) and Derek Kelley (AEO Powersports KTM).

Craig maintains the lead in the 250SX West point-standings, now by 11 points over Lawrence, with Mosiman a further three in arrears entering the Glendale Triple Crown next Saturday night.

Detailed results