Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542726
best in the opening sprint laps, and San Diego was no differ- ent as he went toe-to-toe with Lawrence. Roczen eventually passed for the top spot and looked to make a break for it as he led a big chunk of laps in the middle of the race. He also got shuffled around as both Tomac and Lawrence repassed and pushed Roczen back to third. He showed consistency and stayed close to the leaders for another solid podium. The last time Roczen podiumed the first two rounds of Supercross was in 2019. He trails Tomac by eight points in the championship standings. "Me and Eli went back and forth a couple times, and then in the middle of the race, I just had a couple laps where I was all over the place and fell off the back a bit and got passed," Roc - zen said. "I tried to just settle back in and at least stay close to those guys. I led a bunch of laps in the beginning, and I ended up third, but not far off the leaders. I lacked just three to five percent, you know? It's very minimal, but I definitely wasn't the best guy tonight." Chase Sexton had a tough but encouraging main. He charged all the way back up to fourth after jumping the start gate, causing him to round turn one in last place. He put an aggres - sive pass on Cooper Webb, putting the defending champ on the ground for another subpar finish. "I feel like I had good speed for about 15 minutes of it [the main event] and then I fell off wanted to be there with those guys last week, so we worked hard this week and made some progress, which is always re - warding." Roczen again got on the podium. The Progressive Ecstar Suzuki rider is arguably the A second place against the world's best is nothing to hang your head at, and Lawrence now jumps to third in the 450SX standings, just 10 points back from Tomac. "It's bittersweet when you're so close," Lawrence said. "I ROUND 2 / JANUARY 17, 2026 SNAPDRAGON STADIUM / SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA SUPERCROSS I MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS / SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P62 Chase Sexton clawed his way to fourth in 450SX after hitting the start gate.