Ryan Nitzen | January 21, 2023
Welcome to the San Diego Supercross, round two (well, technically) of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. San Diego was scheduled to be round three of the series, but after torrential rains soaked Oakland, the race was rescheduled. A bit confusing we know. Anyways, we’re racing here in San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium (not Petco Park like years past).
Despite a close night of racing, fans saw repeat winners with Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence taking their respective main event victories.
450SX Main Event
Adam Cianciarulo started things off with a holeshot and the opening lead. After a few injury-ridden seasons, it’s nice to have AC at the front of the field. He led for a few laps early on and eventually finished in eighth.
Cooper Webb found himself in the lead early on after an aggressive pass on Cianciarulo. Coop then proceeded to lead and fought off Eli Tomac for multiple laps. After getting passed, Webb put up a good fight and stayed close as lappers played a part late in the race. Webb definitely had some confidence tonight and backed up his round one result with another second place finish.
450 start. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
Eli Tomac was on a tear tonight. In the opening laps he went from just inside the top 10 to third in the matter of just a few corners. Once he set his sights on the leaders it was game over. Tomac caught Webb and a battle ensued between the former and reigning champions. Eventually though, Tomac took over the lead and never looked back. He’s now two for two to start off the season.
Tomac makes it two-for-two to start the year. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
Justin Barcia held on for third tonight. The TLD GasGas rider is no stranger to contact and he and Chase Sexton had their run-ins early on. Barcia trailed the leaders in fourth for most of the race, but a fall from Jason Anderson bumped him into podium contention. He held off pressure from Ken Roczen for nearly the entire main event and claimed his first podium of the 2023 season.
450 podium – Tomac, Webb, Barcia. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
450SX Main Event (Top 10)
| 1. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
25 Laps |
| 2. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
+01.148 |
| 3. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
+10.251 |
| 4. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
+10.837 |
| 5. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
+12.851 |
| 6. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
+20.433 |
| 7. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
+22.308 |
| 8. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
+23.627 |
| 9. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
+25.136 |
| 10. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Kaw) |
+25.138 |
250SX Main Event
Another wild start and big pileup to kick off the 250SX West Coast Main Event. Levi Kitchen and a few other riders connected just before turn one which caused a domino effect and sent multiple riders down hard. Somehow Jett Lawrence managed to sneak through clean and grabbed the lead by the second turn.
Jett led wire to wire again tonight. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
From there on out it was the Jett Lawrence show. It looked like he was getting caught there for a few laps, but Jett continued to pour it on and stretched his lead out as the race wore on. He led wire to wire for his second win of the season. Will anyone else be able to beat Jettson this year?
RJ Hampshire scored a heat win and grabbed second in the main. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
RJ Hampshire is hoping to be the one that does. He logged another strong second place finish tonight after passing Cameron Mcadoo late in the race. Hampshire came from way back and made up key time in some of the hardest rhythm sections. He set the fastest laps of the race on back-to-back laps and made the pass with just three minutes left on the clock.
Mcadoo landed third for the second week in a row. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
Cameron Mcadoo again settled for third tonight. The Kawasaki rider looked strong in the early stages and even seemed to be catching Jett in the opening laps. As lappers became an issue, Cameron said he made a few mistakes and the arm pump set in. This allowed Hampshire to close in and eventually steal second place away for the second week in a row. Mcadoo is three-three to start the season.
Another clean sweep from Jett Lawrence. Photo: Jett Lawrence
250 podium – Lawrence, Hampshire, Mcadoo. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
250SX West Main Event (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
19 Laps |
| 2. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
+3.613 |
| 3. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
+4.871 |
| 4. |
Enzo Lopes |
(Yam) |
+28.969 |
| 5. |
Pierce Brown |
(Gas) |
+34.393 |
| 6. |
Stilez Robertson |
(Yam) |
+36.086 |
| 7. |
Mitchell Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
+43.232 |
| 8. |
Phil Nicoletti |
(Yam) |
+45.329 |
| 9. |
Derek Kelley |
(KTM) |
+47.205 |
| 10. |
Cole Thompson |
(Yam) |
18 Laps |
QUALIFYING
The track is a a bit smaller than than the usual Petco Park but that didn’t stop Malcolm Stewart from finding the shortest way around. He locked in the fastest time of the day with a 50.008. His time was just one-tenth faster than Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb.
Malcolm Stewart ran the fastest qualifying time today. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
Chase Sexton was only a hair off, one-tenth off Stewart. Photo Brown Dog Wilson
Webb clocked third.
With Tomac fourth.
450SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
50.008 |
| 2. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
50.108 |
| 3. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
50.118 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
50.473 |
| 5. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
50.544 |
| 6. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
50.587 |
| 7. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
50.821 |
| 8. |
Colt Nichols |
(Hon) |
50.952 |
| 9. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
51.079 |
| 10. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
51.206 |
The 250 class is close. Jett Lawrence did put down the fastest lap in the 250’s, but only after a fall in the early stages of the session. He still managed to edge Hampshire for P1. Pierce Brown is back after a heat race incident last weekend. He rounded out the box in qualifying.
No surprise here, Jett Lawrence was the fastest 250. Photo: Brown Dog Wilson
250SX West Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
50.099 |
| 2. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
50.361 |
| 3. |
Pierce Brown |
(Gas) |
51.085 |
| 4. |
Enzo Lopes |
(Yam) |
51.191 |
| 5. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Yam) |
51.487 |
| 6. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
51.732 |
| 7. |
Stilez Robertson |
(Yam) |
51.898 |
| 8. |
Max Vohland |
(KTM) |
51.915 |
| 9. |
Derek Kelley |
(KTM) |
52.121 |
| 10. |
Wilson Todd |
(Hon) |
52.122 |
Pics From The Pits
Starting things off with Tomac’s bike. Rocking the red number-one and a new team look. This camo kit is now the global look on all Yamaha factory bikes. Photos: Ryan Nitzen
Tomac heading into the stadium.
Ferrandis’s bike gets a clutch treatment.
The number-14 has a new signature color from Bell Helmets. Fitting with the camo theme nicely.
Same camo theme on the Star Racing 250’s. No it’s not technically military appreciation night like years past.
Jett Lawrence is sporting the red plate. There’s just something about the all-red on a Honda.
Dirty details on Chase Sexton’s ride. Check out how long his header pipe is.
Engine cases on Colt Nichols’s machine. Note the foam packed under the rear brake.
We failed to mention Joey Savatgy last weekend. Here’s his Rick Ware Racing Kawasaki.
Savatgy rolling into practice.
Shoutout to Hunter Cross. The #702 made his first main at Anaheim and is rocking this chrome kit for San Diego. Also, check out the purple cerakote on the cyilinder head.
Another look at the “sheet metal-esque” graphics.
Mitchell Oldenburg finished just off the podium in fourth at A1.
Oldenburg’s MotoConcepts CRF250R.
We won’t see Marvin Musquin on the line tonight. A mid-week crash left him with a wrist injury.
Same goes for Austin Forkner as he tore just about everything in his knee during his A1 crash.
Which makes Cameron Mcadoo the lone Pro Circuit rider this weekend. Carson Mumford begins his fill in duties at Oakland.
Ken Roczen is working with Factory Connection this week. He got a shock change in between practices.
Nice to see Kenny playing along.
Dean Wilson’s Fire Power Honda.
We’re still getting used to seeing Deano on red.
Shane Mcelrath’s Twisted Tea RMZ. An LCQ crash put him out of the running at A1.
Malcolm Stewart and the rest of the Seven riders are wearing this military brown. The orange mouthpiece and goggles tie in nicely.
Hard to miss Adam Cianciarulo today.
Max Vohland is in his last year with his current KTM contract. Look for some strong results from him.
A few more cool bikes to finish it off. Here’s Josh Hill’s Team Tedder KTM.
Tristan Lane continues his F1 themed looks. This is reminiscent of the old Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes team.
It deserves a look from both sides.
Dominique Thury’s Solitaire Yamaha.
The AJE Motorsports bikes have some ghosted camo mixed with the GasGas red.
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