VOL. 51 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 7, 2014
LID WIN
BY KIT PALMER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE AND PALMER
F
or the second year in a row, the always highly anticipated "Anaheim I"
Supercross produced interesting
and exciting racing, not to mention an
unlikely winner. Last year at "A1," it was
the veteran Davi Millsaps who stunned
the sold-out Angel Stadium crowd by
capturing the win. This year it was the
unexpected Ken Roczen who claimed
victory and had the jam-packed stadium
crowd on its feet after he rode a smart
and solid 20 laps.
P39
Briefly...
To add more racing action in the evening program in 2014, semis have
been brought back into the format
for the 450 class. As a result, the two
heat races have been reduced from
eight laps to six laps and transfer four
riders instead of six directly to the
main event. Those finishing outside
the top four in the two heat races,
line up for the two five-lap semis that
take the top five finishers from each
semi. The rest transfer to a single
Last Chance Qualifier that takes the
top-four finishers to complete the expanded 22-rider (formerly 20 rider)
field.
GEICO Honda's Eli Tomac made his
full-time 450-class debut at Anaheim
I, but it didn't go well. He and Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jake Weimer
got together early in their heat race,
leaving Tomac with a shoulder injury
that made his arm go numb, most
likely caused by a pinched nerve.
Tomac is hopeful he'll be able to get
back on the bike for next weekend's
race at Phoenix.
Heading into the main event, Muscle Milk Honda's Justin Barcia appeared to be the rider to beat in the
450 class. He set the quickest lap
time in qualifying and passed James
Stewart en route to a heat-race win,
but a bad start in the final was his undoing. He was 13th after the first lap,
but climbed up to fifth at the finish.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki's Dean Wilson was the fastest
qualifier in the 250 class, despite
coming into the race already a little
banged up from a crash he suffered
earlier in the week. He spent much
of the 250 main event dicing back
and forth with Zach Osborne, who
continued on next page
