the past two rounds have been
horrendous. Eager for redemp-
tion after a sliced radiator hose
at San Diego, Garrett retired
early from the heat race and
was forced to qualify through the
LCQ at A2. Another poor start
and battles up front ultimately
forced Marchbanks to finish
sixth in the LCQ, two spots short
of a transfer spot. The num-
ber-35's hopes for a title are off
the table after only scoring one
point in the last two weekends.
TOUGH NIGHT
FOR FRIESE
Vince Friese had a frustrat-
ing night. The veteran racer
appeared to be heading to his
first career heat-race win in
the 250cc class when he went
down all alone, gifting Mosiman
the win. Then, Friese was in a
position to finish on the podium
in the main for the first time
of his career when he again
went down on his own in the
whoops. He suffered a hard
smack to the helmet (twice) by
Shimoda, who was unable to
avoid the fallen rider. Friese
reportedly suffered a cut to his
tongue but is expected to be
back next week. According to
his Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Mo-
toconcepts Honda Team, Friese
"...is okay."
Briefly...
Tomac kicked off the main event
with a top-five start and ran quietly in
striking position. Contact between
Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen
moved Tomac to second place
where he stalked early leader Jason
Anderson for the next few laps.
Tomac's moment came when Ander-
son overshot a technical triple-triple
rhythm and stood the bike up in the
corner. The number-three pounced
to take over the lead, and held the
point for the next 13 laps.
"I've finally been bringing my prac-
tice starts to the racetrack," Tomac
said. "That's what I've been doing
wrong before. I was somehow a
totally different guy come race night
and now I'm just doing the same
thing I do at the practice track."
Anderson put his Kawasaki back
on the box at round four. After a me-
chanical issue with his radiator last
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 1, 2022 P51
MYOWNRACE
51 JUSTIN BARCIA
7TH 450SX
Former points leader Jus n Barcia had
another less-than-stellar night, much of
which had to do with another bad start in
the main. He said, "I got a really bad start
in the main event and with how the field
is so fast right now, I wasn't able to get
where I wanted to be so seventh was the
best finish I could pull off tonight. All in all,
it was a good day."
14 DYLAN FERRANDIS
4TH 450SX
Dylan Ferrandis logged his best finish
of the season in San Diego and looked
to back up his podium performance at
Anaheim 2. He started 14th and clawed
his way to fourth at the line. "I got pinched
in the first turn and was pre y far back
in posi on. Then I just charged the best
I could, made many passes, and finished
fourth. The bike is good, and I felt strong
in the whoops, so there are a lot of posi-
ves from today, but a er the podium last
week, I wish I would have finished on the
box again."
For the second
week in a row, Jason
Anderson and Ken
Roczen got a little too
close with Roczen
again getting the
worst of it. Anderson
admitted this one was
his fault.
