2020 AMA Supercross
Round Three – Anahaim II

By Trevor Hedge – Image by Hoppenworld

SX2

SX2 Heat One

Austin Forkner scored the holeshot with maximum aggression into turn one ahead of Mitch Oldenburg but by the end of lap one Forkner was already in a different postcode. Alex Martin was in third ahead of Harmon and Clout, with Cooper, Camporese, Hartranft, Tanti and Macler rounding out the top ten.  Then Aaron Tanti and Alex Martin both made big mistakes that put them on the ground and losing positions.

Forkner continued to dominate by himself up front ahead of Oldenburg but the Honda man managed to fend off the advances of Justin Cooper to take second place.  Forkner the victor by 11-seconds.

Tanti bounced back from that tumble though to eventually finish seventh place, securing his place in the 250 Main.

SX2 Heat Two

Christian Craig got away strongly and immediately started to pull away from Michael Mosiman and Jacob Hayes. Aussie Jay Wilson had got away well and by the second lap was in fourth place. Jett Lawrence meanwhile had moved up to fifth after making plenty of passes on the opening lap.

Defending champion Dylan Ferrandis was in sixth but moved up to fifth after passing Wilson a few laps into the race, while Jett Lawrence moved past Carson Brown and Jacob Hayes to take second place. Ferrandis did the same and with a couple of laps remaining was trying to chase down Jett Lawrence.

The Aussie teenager though had the speed to keep Ferrandis at bay to secure that second place finish.  The winner was his team-mate Geico Honda Christian Craig, despite his seat coming loose and flapping around during the race.

Jay Wilson took the chequered flag in seventh place to secure his transfer spot to the main.

SX2 LCQ

Alex Martin was the early leader in the 250 LCQ but was overhauled by Michael Mosiman late on the opening lap while Luke Clout was looking strong in third place with a decent advantage over Mathias Jorgensen.

Michael Mosiman pulled away from Alex Martin to take a clear win ahead of Alex Martin while Luke Clout scored third for Penrite Honda. Jorgensen was bettered by Robbie Wageman in the closing stages of the race and lost his transfer spot to the Yamaha rider.

SX2 Main

Christian Craig led his Geico Honda team-mate Jett Lawrence out of turn one in the 250 Main as fellow Australian Luke Clout started strongly in third place to make it a Honda 1-2-3.

Austin Forkner got the better of Clout late on that opening lap and Hartranft then pushed the Aussie further back to fifth.

16-year-old Jett Lawrence then hit the front after slipping past his vastly more experienced team-mate!

Dylan Ferrandis put a move on Forkner for third place and pulled away from the Kawasaki man. Justin Cooper was in fifth and 11-seconds behind the leader with ten-minutes remaining.  Hartranft was sixth, Mosiman seventh, Alex Martin eighth and Clout had been shuffled back to ninth while Auberson was running in tenth place just ahead of Aaron Tanti.

Ferrandis closed on Craig to challenge for second place but the pair then came together with both going down. Craig came off distinctly second best with the twisted bars of his Geico Honda putting him out of the race.  That melee had seen Jett’s lead blow out to more than ten-seconds.

Forkner went down hard in the whoops from third place with five-minutes remaining. He held his back a few times before eventually kicking the Kawasaki into life and rejoined the race way down in 18th position.

Then with three-minutes remaining Jett Lawrence went down! The Aussie teenager had an 11-second lead over Ferrandis before going down in the whoops! He was quickly up and going again while still in the lead but the Frenchman had a sniff now…. Jett made a couple more small mistakes which allowed the defending champion to close within a few lengths of the youngster’s back wheel…

As they started the final lap Jett still had his nose in front and fended off the first and seconds thrusts of Ferrandis but was bettered in the third.  Lawrence was not giving up his chance for glory though and was determined to come back at the defending champion only to go over the bars only metres from the chequered flag! Jett stayed down, clearly conscious but not in any hurry to lift his body off the racing line which saw the flag Marshalls busily waving yellows and riders rolling the final jumps under caution.

Jett will be kicking himself for throwing that one away but at the end of the day he is 16-years-old and still played an absolute starring role, but for now it is the one that got away….

The talented teenager was in tears as he was transported back to the pits in the medical side-by-side vehicle as all his supporters had their fingers crossed that he would be cleared of any injuries that would slow his progress from here on in. Later it was confirmed that Jett had broken his collarbone. 

Dylan Ferrandis was the victor, but that win itself was under question in the immediate aftermath of the race… His move on Christian Craig earlier in the race was a hard pass that put the Geico Honda man out of the race, and officials were still adjudicating as to whether they would level any penalty on Ferrandis.

Justin Cooper crossed the line in second place ahead of Brandon Hartranft with Mosiman fourth in front of Alex Martin and Aussie Luke Clout finished a highly creditable sixth place while fellow Aussie Aaron Tanti claimed a 13th place finish.

Cooper the championship leader with a 12-point buffer over Ferrandis.

Results/Standings

SX1

450 Heat One

Cooper Webb scored the holeshot but Eli Tomac was quickly all over him and didn’t waste any time moving through to the lead, while the two swapped positions a couple of times on the opening lap before Tomac then started to pull away.

Left laying on the deck at turn one though were Honda riders Justin Hill, Austin Politelli and Justin Brayton.

Over the next few laps Brayton worked his way back through the pack and was up to eighth place ahead of Chad Reed and by the chequered flag Brayton had secured a seventh place finish. Justin Hill sneaked past Reed for ninth place on the final lap to send the Aussie veteran to the LCQ.

Eli Tomac was the clear victor by ten-seconds over Cooper Webb while Dean Wilson rounded out the top three ahead of Justin Barcia and Tyler Bowers.

450 Heat Two

Zach Osborne, Justin Bogle and Adam Cianciarulo all got great starts but it was the Kawasaki man who was quickly into the lead as Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen started making their way forward.

Roczen was up to second before the end of the opening lap and chasing Cianciarulo hard. Justin Bogle fought back well against Jason Anderson but eventually succumbed to the Husqvarna man and it was Cianciarulo from Roczen with Anderson in third.

Ken Roczen took the lead with a couple of laps remaining and held on for the win from Cianciarulo, while Jason Anderson was a few seconds further behind in third.  Martin Davalos and Malcolm Stewart had a great battle over fourth place but it was Stewart that secured the fourth place gong.

450 LCQ

Jason Clermont scored the holeshot in the 450 LCQ and led a hard chasing pack for the opening lap before making a big mistake that saw his chance of a transfer spot disappear. 

Chris Blose and Ryan Breece then took over up front but it wasn’t long before Aussie veteran Chad Reed made short work of them as he took the lead, pulling away from the chasing horde to secure a clear victory.

Reed was the winner over Blose and Breece, while Alex Ray secured his spot in the 450 main with fourth place ahead of Adam Enticknap.

450 Main

Ken Roczen scored the Main Event holeshot ahead of Blake Baggett, Zach Osborne, Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac. Anderson then moved up to fourth place challenging Cooper Webb for third.

It had looked as though Roczen might pull an escape act up front but Blake Baggett had other ideas…. The 27-year-old Californian closed on Roczen and then made a pass, the German came right back at him but Baggett then went down after losing the front having taken the inside option of the split lane, his challenge done.

The battle for third had now became a battle for second and it was really hotting up as Eli Tomac forged his way through to the front of that pack ahead of Webb, Anderson, Cianciarulo, Osborne and Barcia. Roczen outin front had a five-second lead…

It only took a couple of minutes for Tomac to reel Roczen in and the #3 Kawasaki took the lead with 13-minutes remaining on the clock. 

Tomac then checked out and steadily pulled away from Roczen.  Further behind Cooper Webb was holding down third place ahead of Adam Cianciarulo, Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson and Justin Brayton. Malcolm Stewart was eighth ahead of Justin Barcia while Dean Wilson rounded out the top ten with six-minutes left on the clock.

Cianciarulo was then shuffled back to sixth place as both Osborne and Anderson pushed past the Kawasaki man.

Cooper Webb was closing steadily on Ken Roczen and when they got the two-lap board only 1.8-seconds separated the duo. Meanwhile Tomac enjoyed a 4.2-second lead over Roczen.

Tomac was the winner while Roczen managed to keep Webb at bay to secure second place and the championship lead.

Zach Osborne finished fourth ahead of Jason Anderson and Adam Cianciarulo while Justin Brayton finished seventh ahead of Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barcia, with Dean Wilson rounding out the top ten.  Chad Reed took the chequered flag in 18th place and with that extra five-points ranks 18th in the championship.

Next weekend AMA Supercross heads to Arizona for round four of the Monster 17-round championship series.

Results/Standings