Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 3 / JANUARY 23, 2016 ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM / ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA P52 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES Briefly... It was a special night for Christian Craig who actually announced his retirement from racing four years ago after a string of injuries and disap- pointments. But it wouldn't last for long. He returned to racing a couple of years later as a fill-in rider for the GEICO Honda squad and it went so well that he earned a full-time spot on the team. "It's amazing," Craig said of his best night of his racing career. "Racing for four years and not win- ning a heat race, not winning a main, getting hurt all the time; bumpy road, and four years later I'm on the podi- um. It's not a road that people want to take, they want to do it right away when you're young, I'm showing that a 24-year-old can do it." It was a super frustrating night for Trey Canard. The HRC Honda Team rider has shown that he has the speed to win but just can't put it all together so far this season, but A2 had to be his worst day yet. He fell in practice and re-aggravated a lingering groin injury when he washed out in a turn and caught the handlebars while falling. In his heat race, he was landed on by another rider on the first lap, which was way- too reminiscent of his scary crash at Dodger Stadium a few years ago, but this time, he came away with just a cut on his throttle hand that required stitches (after the race, though). He took second in his Semi but got shoved off the track after a get-together with Justin Brayton. He ended up in a precarious spot on the track and was not able to get back on the bike quickly. At that point, a…well, mad Canard called it a night and headed back to the pits. At this point it looks as though he'll race next weekend at Oakland. James Stewart chose to skip the A2 supercross. The Yoshimura Suzuki Team rider is still feeling the effects of a concussion that he suffered at the A1 Supercross two weeks ago. He was cleared to race the follow- ing week at San Diego but when he got up to race pace during practice, Stewart said that he just did feel 100-percent and withdrew. He rest- ed up the follow week, rode on the Thursday before A2 and, although he said he felt better, he chose to skip A2 but is expected to return to action at Oakland, along with his fellow in- jured teammate Blake Baggett, who was injured just before A1. A few more riders got banged up just prior to Anaheim 2. RCH/Soaring Ea- gle/Jimmy John's Suzuki Broc Tick- le and GEICO Honda's Justin Bogle were on the DL at A2. Tickle suffered a broken arm while practicing and will be out of action for at least four to six weeks. Bogle also suffered a big crash and was left battered and bruised. He was already dealing with a broken foot, so he chose to skip A2. His status is day-to-day. Red Bull KTM's Dean Wilson suf- fered a knee injury in practice at A2. He reportedly slid out and twisted his knee and decided to sit out the rest of the day. Wilson his scheduled for an MRI this week. Australian MX2 Champion Luke Clout made his U.S. debut at A2. He was recruited as a 250SX fill-in rider for Daniel Baker on the MAD/ Dirt Candy Suzuki Team, who is out for the season with an ankle injury. Clout, who arrived in the U.S. just last week, posted impressive times in qualifying and even won the LCQ. He went on to finish 14 th in the Main. AutoTrader.com/Toyota/JGRMX Ya- maha's Weston Peick returned to action after his one-race suspension for punching out Smartop MotoCon- cepts Racing's Jeff Friese during their altercation at A1. Peick won his Semi race but crashed late in the main while running eighth behind Davi Millsaps. He ended up 14 th . A1 winner Rockstar Energy Husqvar- na Factory Racing's Jason Ander- son had a long night but still finished fifth in the 450SX main after qualifying through a Semi (which he won). An- derson started midpack in the Main and worked his way into fifth by the ninth lap. "I got fifth, which is nothing to be bummed about," said Ander- son. "It's not the greatest, but it's not the worst. I still pulled through. There seemed to be a lot of lappers out there, and I think it's because there're a lot of guys that are currently out, so a majority of riders who usually don't make the mains are sneaking in and it seems to be causing a lot of traffic."

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