Follow the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from round four of the season at Angel Stadium in Anaheim through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX qualifying:
As he did in the earlier session, 250SX West points-leader Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) set the pace in the final outing this afternoon with a 1m04.242s despite a late fall, only marginally quicker than last week’s winner Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) at 1m04.281s. Behind those leading two – the only riders to win main events this year – was Craig’s teammate Nate Thrasher in an upturn of form, with Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) the final rider in the 1m04s bracket. It was Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence in P5, followed by Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda), Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha), Chris Blose (AJE Motorsport Motul GasGas) and Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) the top 10.

450SX qualifying one:
A late lap from San Diego winner Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) saw him climb atop the combined qualifying results this afternoon, his 1m03.046s signalling that he has momentum on his side entering round four. Sexton’s lap was enough to dislodge Q1 leader Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), who had posted a 1m03.208s earlier in the day and that was enough to keep him in second overall. Third was Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) courtesy of a final lap flier, ahead of Tomac’s teammate Dylan Ferrandis, Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki), defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC), Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Justin Brayton (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) in a mix of times set between the first and second sessions.

250SX heat one:
The opening heat of the night eventually belonged to Mosiman, however, it appeared the fast-starting Friese was on his way to win until he went down with less than a minute to run. That enabled Mosiman to power ahead and comfortably take victory by 4.669s, with Friese remounting to pass Swoll in third and Shimoda recovered from as far back as 10th to cross the finish in fourth position. Also transferring directly was Carson Brown (AEO Powersports KTM), Dominique Thury (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Carson Mumford (BarX Suzuki), Wageman and Mitchell Harrison (AJE Motorsport Motul GasGas). Second of the BarX Suzukis, Dilan Schwartz went down in the first turn and didn’t finish the heat.

250SX heat two:
It was a Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha 1-2 in the second heat race, as Craig made his way by teammate Thrasher by the end of lap two and went on to control things from there in winning by 3.574s. Third was a relatively quiet outing from Lawrence, with Cole Thompson (Yamaha), Kaeden Amerine (Team Tedder Monster Energy KTM), Justin Rodbell (PRMX Partzilla Kawasaki), Blose, Logan Karnow (Kawasaki) and Mcclellan Hile (Honda) also going straight through to the final. There was drama in the last corner, Dylan Woodcock (Husqvarna) being taken down by Dylan Walsh (Revo Seven Kawasaki) in a lunge for ninth, sending both to the LCQ.

450SX heat one:
New red plate-holder Tomac struck first in the premier class tonight in winning the opening 450SX heat, sizing up longtime leader Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) with a minute to spare and going on to finish 3.096s ahead. Plessinger, though, was impressive in sticking on Tomac once he went past for the runner-up, with second of the factory YZ450Fs Ferrandis taking third. Brayton led a train of top riders next, fending off both Stewart and Webb, with Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea Suzuki), Max Anstie (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) and Fredrik Noren (KTM) also going through inside the top nine.

450SX heat two:
Momentum is definitely on the side of Sexton and it was evident in the second heat race at A2, edging away from teammate Roczen at the front to win by 6.065s in that order, with Barcia making his way to third by race’s end. Fourth at the finish was Musquin, who in turn was ahead of Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS), Anderson after his share of mistakes and a final corner move on Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), as Ryan Breece (Yamaha) and Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) qualified directly from the heat.

250SX LCQ:
A solid effort from Derek Kelley (AEO Powersports KTM) saw him recover from a heavy crash in his heat to top the last-chance, to be joined in the main event by Walsh, Richard Taylor (Yamaha) and Hunter Schlosser (Yamaha). However, the major upset was Marchbanks only finishing sixth, not making his way through to the final for further disappointment this weekend.

450SX LCQ:
Crafty veteran Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha) was untouched in the 450 class LCQ as he cruised to victory, followed into the main by Alex Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Josh Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy KTM) and Justin Bogle (Twisted Tea Suzuki), who had to work his way into position at the expense of Kevin Moranz (KTM). Those four will have a quick turnaround to the finals coming up.

250SX main event:
There was no stopping Craig on his way to a third 250SX victory in four races this season, overcoming longtime leader Mosiman to stamp his authority on the category. It was Friese who led initially before Mosiman made his way by, with Craig giving chase from outside of the podium positions. The red plate-holder made his way into P2 by lap four and then made a move stick on Mosiman on lap 10, stretching away from there to win in convincing fashion by 2.948s. Mosiman wasn’t quite at the level of Craig on his way to the runner-up, while behind them, Lawrence made it four-straight podiums in third tonight, but only after Friese crashed in the whoops with two laps to run and was struck by Shimoda, who also went down. Unfortunately for Friese, he wasn’t able to remount after showing genuine pace throughout the round, while Shimoda managed his way back to seventh position. With Lawrence salvaging third, fourth came Thrasher, comfortably ahead of the improving Swoll and Brown starred in claiming sixth ahead of Shimoda. The top 10 was completed by Mumford over Wageman and Kelley. Craig maintains the lead, now by 11 points over Lawrence, with Mosiman a further three in arrears.

450SX main event:
After taking over the red plate last weekend despite having no wins, Tomac cemented himself atop the standings by earning a first victory since making his high-profile switch to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha in the pre-season. Early leader Roczen went down by virtue of unintentional contact made by Anderson in the sand with around 15 minutes remaining, dropping him well down the order, which enabled the latter to take over at the front until he made a mistake soon afterwards. While Anderson was able to keep it on track, his error was enough to let Tomac sweep by and he wasn’t headed from there – winning by 4.619s in a dominant performance to become the fourth different winner in four races. Behind him, Anderson recovered for the runner-up, with Sexton claiming another podium result in third position. Ferrandis was strong yet again in fourth, while Stewart took fifth after he managed to start up front this time around. The top 10 also featured Musquin, Barcia, Webb despite losing the front-end midway through, Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and McElrath in one of his better rides of the year to date. Roczen, meanwhile, finished down the order in 13th place with another dent in his title prospects. Also enduring a tough main event, Plessinger crashed out on the second lap, with Brayton also later going out after he went down while in 11th position. The series now sees Tomac build a six-point buffer at the front, followed by Sexton, with Anderson third.