Image: Octopi Media.

Red plate-holder Jett Lawrence was once again the class of the field in San Diego, extending his Monster Energy Supercross 250SX West points-lead with back-to-back victories to open his 2023 campaign, as did defending champion Eli Tomac in 450SX.

Lawrence holeshot and led every lap for a 3.613s win on this occasion, topping a fast-finishing RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), who in turn made a move on Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) with two laps remaining.

It was a first turn incident involving Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Wilson Todd (Fire Power Honda) and Mitchell Harrison (AJE Motorsport GasGas) that ruined their races, but at the front it was all eyes on Team Honda HRC’s Lawrence.

There was yet again a convincing performance from Enzo Lopes (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) on his way to fourth position, with Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) returning after crashing out at Anaheim to earn P5.

Positions six through 10 included Stilez Robertson (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda), Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) after running up-front early on, Derek Kelley (AEO Powersports KTM) and Cole Thompson (Team Solitaire Heartbeat Hot Sauce Yamaha).

Of the riders in the pile-up, Todd climbed to 17th, while both Kitchen and Harrison were ruled out altogether.

Two rounds into the season, Lawrence now leads by six points over the consistent Hampshire, with McAdoo a further four points back in third – replicating the podium from the opener a fortnight ago as we now look ahead to Anaheim 2 next Saturday.

Image: Octopi Media.

Defending 450SX champion Tomac continued his perfect start to the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship in winning at San Diego’s new Snapdragon Stadium tonight.

The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider too charge on lap five and went on to win by just 1.148s over a charging Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), who put pressure on in the closing laps.

While Tomac was convincing for a second-straight victory, Webb repeated his result from the opener and led his share of laps before Tomac went by and this time trailed him home to the end – not quite able to strike when it counted.

Third marked the first podium of the season for Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) equipped with the new generation MC 450F Factory Edition, benefiting from a mid-race mishap from Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) while he was in podium contention.

Directly behind in fourth was Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki), as Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) got through the night in fifth position. Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) crossed the finish in sixth for another consistent result, as Anderson eventually claimed a lowly P7.

After leading the opening laps, Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) was eighth, from Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) in ninth after being outside the top 15 on lap one, and Joey Savatgy (Rick Ware Racing) completed the top 10.

The hard luck story of the main event was Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), going down multiple times and eventually settling for 15th after qualifying quickest this afternoon and winning his heat race in spectacular fashion.

Leading into Anaheim 2 next Saturday night, Tomac now leads by six points over Webb, with Sexton still within reach, a further seven in arrears.

Detailed results