For the second straight year, the Monster Energy Supercross Series opened the season with four different winners as the Round 4 results show Eli Tomac capturing the main and extending his points’ lead.
Tomac’s win came after Ken Roczen won Round 1 in Anaheim, Jason Anderson won Round 2 in Oakland and Chase Sexton earned his first 450 race last week in San Diego.
Last year, three of these drivers were also part of a four-winner streak. In 2021, Eli Tomac won Round 2 and Ken Roczen won Round 4. That leaves Justin Barcia, (winner of Round 1) and Cooper Webb (Round 3) as riders capable of extending the streak to five consecutive.
Tomac took the lead from Anderson just after the mid-point of the race and was uncontested until the checkers.
RESULTS: Click here for 450 Results; Click here for 250 Results
Hear from your 450SX Main Event winner, @EliTomac 🗣
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) January 30, 2022
450SX Main Event LIVE fueled by United Pacific#SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/vvbKuQa9sI
The biggest incident of the night belonged to Anderson, and he and Roczen made contact while racing for position for the second week. This time they were battling at the front, and when Anderson ran into Roczen, it stalled his momentum and allowed Tomac to garner the energy that eventually completed the pass.
Anderson held on to finish second and climbed to third in the points, eight markers behind Tomac.
It was much worse for Roczen. When he fell in the sand section of the track, his goggles filled with grit and it took valuable seconds to clear them, forcing him to remount in 20th. Roczen climbed to 13th, but after finishing outside the top 10 in two of the first four rounds, he dropped to ninth in the standings.
Click here for 450 Heat 1 results | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier
Last week’s winner, Sexton finished third at Anaheim 2 and maintained second in the standings. He lost five points in the process, however, and now trails Tomac by six.
Dylan Ferrandis finished fourth to earn his second top-five of the season. He was on the podium last week in San Diego.
Malcolm Stewart rounded out the top five. His worst finish in either a heat or feature has been seventh, which he earned in the season opener in this same stadium in Anaheim.
Click here for Round 3 450 Main results | Rider Points | Combined 450/250 Manufacturer Points
Christian Craig remained the hottest rider on the circuit with his third win in four 250 West rounds. At Anaheim 2, he was momentarily mired behind Vince Friese and Michael Mosiman, but once he got the lead, Craig held a solid line and extended his points’ lead to 11 over Hunter Lawrence.
Mosiman refused to give up much ground. He stayed on Craig’s back tire for most of the second half of the race and backed up his inaugural 250 win with a runner-up finish. He is now three points behind Lawrence in third in the standings.
Click here for 250 West Heat 1 results | 250 West Heat 2250 West Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier
Lawrence kept his perfect streak of podiums alive with a third-place finish, but it took a little help to get there.
In the closing laps, Lawrence chased Friese until that rider bobbled in the whoops and went down. As Friese stood to reclaim his bike, Lawrence veered around him. Jo Shimoda was not as fortunate. His front tire made hard contact with Friese helmet, which sent the downed rider staggering off course.
Friese bit his tongue and will require stitches, but is otherwise okay. Shimoda remounted to finish seventh.
Anaheim 2 🏁
— Kawasaki Racing (@RaceKawasaki) January 30, 2022
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s @elhombre_21 battled hard tonight to secure his 2nd podium of the season with a 2nd overall in Anaheim. In the 250 Class, @joshimoda overcame late race adversity to finish 7th. pic.twitter.com/bcwt3YyL1J
Click here for 250 West Main results | 250 West rider points
Rounding out the top five were Nate Thrasher and Jalek Swoll.
Coming off an eighth-place finish in San Diego, it was a rebound for Thrasher.
Swoll also improved from his San Diego run and seems to be showing no ill effects from a concussion sustained at Anaheim 1. Swoll was seventh last week after missing Oakland.
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 1 AT ANAHEIM: Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb renew rivalry with 1-2 finish
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 2 AT OAKLAND: Jason Anderson wins, Ken Roczen struggles to tighten points’ standings
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 3 AT SAN DIEGO: First time wins for Chase Sexton (450s) and Michael Mosiman (250s)