2024 Anaheim One Supercross | Race Report & Results

2024 ANAHEIM ONE SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

What a night! Round one of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross championship is officially in the books after the fastest riders in the world traded lines and battled in Anaheim, California. The season opener took place in front of a sold-out crowd at at Angels Stadium and saw RJ Hampshire and Jett Lawrence score big wins over the competition.

250 WEST REGION | REPORT & RESULTS

HEAT RACE ONE

The first gate drop of the new season brought plenty of excitement  Jordon Smith led the charge into turn one but Carson Mumford took control in the second corner and led Smith, RJ Hampshire, Nate Thrasher and the rest. Honda HRC’s Jo Shimoda suffered a poor start and crashed out of the top ten on the first lap. A bobble by Mumford saw him relinquish the lead to Smith, and the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider would never be headed as he raced to the first heat race win of the year. Hampshire dogged Smith throughout but was never able to find his way past as lappers came into play in the closing stages of the race. Thrasher rode alone in third well ahead of Mumford. After running as far back as 15th, Shimoda recovered from his lap-one crash to grab the final direct transfer to the main in ninth.

HEAT RACE TWO

Supercross rookie Julien Beaumer was quickest off the line at the start of his first career Supercross heat race and led Maximus Vohland, Phil Nicoletti, and the rest onto the track. Fastest qualifier Levi Kitchen crashed on the first lap and remounted outside of the top 15. A mistake by Beaumer allowed Vohland to take control of the lead on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, and the second-generation rider would never be headed as he raced to the first heat race win of his career. Baumer held strong for second ahead of Club MX Yamaha’s Garrett Marchbanks, Motoconcepts Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg, and the rest. Kitchen recovered to finish seventh behind Ryder DiFrancisco and Phil Nicoletti. 

LCQ

The 250 LCQ gave riders a last chance to qualify for the first 250 West Coast main of the year, and Max Miller, TJ Albright, and Lux Turner waged a war at the front of the pack. Julien Benek threw his hat into the ring by passing Turner for third and moving into the lead battle. Miller went down in the corner between the two whoops sections, leaving Albright in control of the lead, green lights on his Yamaha glowing. Benek worked up to Albright’s rear wheel and shadowed him to the finish, but would have to settle for second and a ticket to the main. Turner and Lance Kobusch earned the final two transfers.

MAIN EVENT

When the gate dropped on the first West Coat 250 main of the year, Levi Kitchen was quickest off the line but Beaumer wasted little time and put his KTM into the point position only a few corners in. An aggressive RJ Hampshire made it clear he was after the win by stuffing his way past Kitchen and nearly jumping past Beaumer on the opening lap. Lap two saw Hampshire get a tremendous run through the first set of whoops and take control of the lead aboard his Husqvarna FC 250. Baumer held strong in second, fending off the challenges of Kitchen, who was in turn being pressured by Smith. 

Smith made the pass on Kitchen at the halfway point and took control of third, then set his sights on Beaumer. Smith carried his momentum forward and used a great run through the whoops to dive beneath Beaumer entering the second set of whoops and take over the runner-up position. Behind the KTM rider, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Vohland and Kitchen scrapped over fourth and a shot at Beaumer for the final podium position,  The teammates got a gift when Beaumer flew off the track and dropped to seventh. 

A big crash by Lux Turner in the first-baseline rhythm section caused riders to roll the middle of the section with the red cross flags out. Nevertheless, Hampshire stretched his lead out with each passing lap and he enjoyed a three-second lead over Smith at the checkered flag. Kitchen came some five seconds further back to secure the final podium position, a split second ahead of. a hard-charging Jo Shimoda, who suffered a horrendous start and took most of the race to find his normal speedy pace. Vohland rounded out the top five as the last rider in the breakaway group, as Beaumer came home sixth in his first Supercross, some 11 seconds further abreast.

“I’m so thankful for this win,” said Hampshire. “Man, I won A1! I’m stoked on it!”

450 CLASS | REPORT & RESULTS

HEAT RACE ONE

Ken Roczen was off to the early lead, while Chase Sexton and others were down hard after Hunter Lawrence lost control entering the first corner. Ken Roczen led Christian Craig and Dean Wilson trailed in third place early. Dean made a pass on Craig for second place, as Eli Tomac duked it out with Aaron Plessinger for fifth. Malcolm Stewart then made a clean pass on Craig to take over third place, and Plessinger followed in the whoops just moments later. 

Christian Craig continued to go backwards, as he was then passed by Eli Tomac and shuffled to sixth place. Malcolm Stewart took Dean Wilson wide a lap later to make the move on Dean for second. Then Aaron Plessinger challenged and made the pass on both Dean and Malcolm within a section to secure second place.

Eli Tomac was now up front, as he passed Wilson for fourth place and set his sights on Stewart. Meanwhile, Ken Roczen continued to lead and held a 4 second cushion over Plessinger. Following his first turn crash, Chase Sexton climbed up to sixth place and nearly got Wilson in the final turn. Ken Roczen took the win in the dramatic heat race.

HEAT RACE TWO

Jett Lawrence snagged the holeshot, but Cooper Webb took the rookie wide in the second corner and secured the race lead. Jason Anderson trailed in third place and Austin Politelli sat in fourth. Dylan Ferrandis and Adam Cianciarulo made their way past Politelli, shuffling him back to sixth. 

Up front, Jett Lawrence continued to trail Cooper Webb, as Jason Anderson sat in tow. Justin Barcia, Justin Cooper, Jorge Prado, and Shane McElrath advanced into transfer positions. While chasing down Webb, Jett Lawrence lost the front-end and went down. Jett remounted quickly in third place. Cooper Webb took the heat race victory ahead of Jason Anderson, Jett Lawrence, and Dylan Ferrandis. 

LCQ

Justin Hill snagged the holeshot and took the early lead, while Hunter Lawrence rounded the first corner in 20th place. Benny Bloss pulled off the course on the opening lap. Kyle Chisholm pressured Justin Hill for the race lead, while Freddie Noren trailed in third. Austin Politelli pushed his bike off the track after a mechanical issue. On the final lap, Hunter Lawrence had climbed up to fifth place and dove inside of Cade Clason in the final corner. However, Cade rocketed around the outside of Hunter and secured the final transfer to the Main Event. While, Justin Hill took the victory in the 450SX LCQ. 

MAIN EVENT

Jett Lawrence shot to the race lead and Jason Anderson followed, as Malcolm Stewart, Justin Cooper, and Ken Roczen went down in the first rhythm lane. Malcolm Stewart then went down again, placing him in dead last. Ken Roczen rode into the pits following his first lap crash before rejoining the course a few moments later. Vince Friese and Dean Wilson connected on the opening lap, which ending Vince’s night. 

Up front, Jett Lawrence continued to lead Anderson, but Cooper Webb was in tail and pushing. Christian Craig went down and remounted in 19th place. Eli Tomac challenged Prado for ninth place, and ultimately made the pass before chasing down Ferrandis. After trailing for a few laps, Aaron Plessinger made the pass on Justin Barcia for fifth place.

Christian Craig pulled off the track with 12-minutes on the clock, ending his night. Up front, Cooper Webb was inching up to Jason Anderson and starting to challenge for second place. Dylan Ferrandis advanced past Barcia for sixth place. Cooper Webb took Anderson high before the finish line to take over second place, but Jason fired back in the next corner and retook the position.  

Cooper Webb then dragged peg over the wall while attempting another pass on Anderson and went over the bars. Fortunately, Webb remounted quickly and had a large enough cushion to only loose three positions. Justin Cooper caught and passed Eli Tomac for eighth place with three laps to go. Meanwhile, Jett Lawrence continued to lead and now held a 7-second buffer over Anderson. Jett Lawrence crossed the finish line to make history and claim the victory in his first 450SX main event.