Trey Canard is first to put his name among the winners at Petco Park in San Diego.
Round 6 of the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross series visited a familiar city but for the first time Petco Park, home of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, hosted a Round and after a back and forth dual with Ken Roczen and a little help from the lappers, Canard grabbed his second win in three weeks.
Coming into San Diego, only Chad Reed and James Stewart had won in the city since 2002, all coming at Qualcomm Stadium. Canard won his first Supercross race this year at Oakland, his first since 2011, and joins Roczen as the only two-time winners this season.
San Diego also played host for the second year to what's now an annual Military Appreciation Race and the sold-out crowd of more than 42,000 was hardly disappointed. Roczen, who has not won since A2, grabbed the holeshot and jumped to an early extended lead as Canard, Davi Millsaps, points leader Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac and Reed skirmished their way to the front. Tomac was the first one out making contact with Reed and hitting the dirt.
After the first Lap, Dungey passed Millsaps for third-place and by Lap 3 Canard and Roczen began trading off on front-tunner status before Canard finally pulled ahead. Mid-way through the race, Roczen closed the lead thanks to some lappers and by Lap 14 he was on Canard's tail. Canard maintained the lead but with three laps remaining, he allowed Roczen to catch up and the two ran neck-and-neck. Finally, Canard took advantage of some lappers and held on for the win, his fifth career victory.
"It's been a long road but I'm just so grateful to be in this position again," Canard said who now has sole possession of third place and is nine points back from Roczen in second-place. "I opened a gap and Kenny (Roczen) closed it right back in. He kept me on my toes the whole time."
Roczen's second-place finished was his first podium since that win in Anaheim for Round 3 and Dungey nailed down another podium, his fifth of the season. Reed took fourth and Tomac bounced back for fifth.
Jimmy Albertson Takes 18th in San Diego
On the home front, Jimmy Albertson and Nick Wey took second and third, respectively, in the LCQ with Wey taking 17th and Albertson 18th in the Main. It was only Wey's second Main of the season and the fourth for Albertson, who has 14 points for the season, and just two points separate him from the Top 20.
Nick Wey gets in second Main of the season, finishes 17th
Fredrik Noren, who rides for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda Racing team finished in seventh in the LCQ, not enough for the Main. He'll stay behind as the series heads east and prepare for Outdoors plus work as a test rider for Honda.
Fredrik Noren misses Main but will stay behind and train for the 2015 Motocross season
In the 250 West class, MotoSport rider Josh Hansen took fourth, his best finish of the season and first Top 5 of the year. Additionally, Tommy Hahn finished ninth, tying his best finish of the year and securing his third Top 10 of the year. Hansen's performance moves him to eighth-place, tied in points with Justin Hill. Hansen is just seven points from fifth.
Josh Hansen takes season best fourth-place in San Diego
Elsewhere in the 250s, Cooper Webb almost sat out the race after a hard crash in practice but took his fourth win of the season and opened a 30 point lead over Jessy Nelson with just three races remaining. It wasn't easy for Webb, who tweaked his shoulder in the crash, and he needed half the race to get past holeshot winner Zach Osborn and Tyler Bowers. On Lap 9, Webb finally closed the distance for good and easily fended off Shane McElrath who took second, the best finish of his career. Bowers settled on third, Osborne fell to sixth.
Tommy Hahn ties his season best of ninth-place
The 250SX West class gets a two-month break before resuming in Houston on April 11. The 250SX East class starts Saturday in Dallas with six straight Rounds. Buy tickets online or at the box office 1 Legends Way in Arlington, TX.
2015 Monster Energy Supercross San Diego Results
San Diego Supercross 450SX Class Results
- Trey Canard
- Ken Roczen
- Ryan Dungey
- Chad Reed
- Eli Tomac
- Cole Seely
- Blake Baggett
- Andrew Short
- Broc Tickle
- Jason Anderson
San Diego Supercross 250SX West Class Results
- Cooper Webb
- Shane McElrath
- Tyler Bowers
- Josh Hansen - MotoSport rider
- Alex Martin
- Zach Osborne
- Zach Bell
- Jessy Nelson
- Tommy Hahn - MotoSport rider
- Chris Alldredge
2015 Monster Energy Supercross Season Standings
450SX Class Season Standings
- Ryan Dungey (127)
- Ken Roczen (118)
- Trey Canard (109)
- Eli Tomac (100)
- Jason Anderson (85)
- Cole Seely (82)
- Chad Reed (75)
- Justin Barcia (71)
- Blake Baggett (68)
- Andrew Short (66)
250SX Class Season Standings
- Cooper Webb (136)
- Jessy Nelson (106)
- Tyler Bowers (104)
- Zach Osborne (102)
- Shane McElrath (86)
- Aaron Plessinger (81)
- Justin Hill (79)
- Josh Hansen (79) - MotoSport rider
- Alex Martin (75)
- Malcolm Stewart (69)
