the whoops, where he then faced
another battle with Roczen. The
two veterans duked it out, with
Anderson ultimately losing the
spot and crossing the line third.
"It's tough because you want
to stay in your line that is work-
ing and one that's comfortable
because the rain made the track
super slick," Anderson said. "I
knew I was good in the whoops
and I just tried to keep doing my
thing. For me, being as sick as
I was last weekend, this week it
still feels like it's lingering, but
I'm happy to be strong for most
of the main event and lead some
laps."
turns later and gave the spot
back to the gritty Kawasaki rider.
"That whole main event was
rad. I feel like I was in a four-way
battle the whole time," Roczen
said. "After I passed Jason the
first time, going over the double
and hitting the tabletop, that's
where I hit neutral on accident.
My boot must've hit it, and I
backed out of the triple and then
had to go to work again."
Roczen used his technical
skills to find traction on the wet
dirt and repassed Anderson
with four laps to go. He held on
for second, marking his second
podium in three rounds. Roczen
now takes over the champion
-
ship points lead for the first time
since 2022 and will carry the red
plate into round four.
"Besides having the red plate
frequently back in 2022, I haven't
really had a taste of it in a long
time, especially not on yellow
[Suzuki]," Roczen said. "It's hon
-
estly a dream come true."
Anderson held on for third
at the checkers. After suffer-
ing from illness at round two in
San Diego, the Kawasaki rider
rebounded nicely by winning his
heat race over Lawrence and
starting up front in the main
event. He followed early leader
Justin Cooper (Monster Energy
Star Racing Yamaha) for the first
six laps but finally passed for
the lead just before the halfway
mark. Anderson circulated up
front for the next eight laps and
rode a wide bike to keep Law
-
rence behind him. This worked
in the heat, but Lawrence finally
had enough and dropped An-
derson back to second through
VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P69
after breaking two fingers on his
left hand last week in San Diego.
During the afternoon autograph
session, a sign in the Honda pits
read: "Yes, I have two broken
fingers. Yes, I am planning to race.
Yes, it hurts." Shimoda finished
sixth in the main event and is cur-
rently fourth in the championship.
SECRET AGENT
Jett Lawrence was in the limelight
coming into the A2 race. News
broke that he and his brother,
Hunter, had split from longtime
agent Lucas Mirtl. The Lawrences
issued a statement to Vital MX
stating they "became aware of and
in possession of evidence of mis-
use and misappropriation of our
personal funds by our agent Lucas
Mirtl for his benefit, and as of 9:00
AM EST this morning [Friday], we
have fired him." Mirtl responded
with a statement, saying he was
surprised by the firing and did no
wrongdoing.
Briefly...
Ken Roczen ran up front
and finished third. He now
leads in points.
