Image: Octopi Media.

Following contact in Anaheim 2’s main event between 450SX title contenders Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen, the pair have spoken out on the incident that ultimately saw the Team Honda HRC rider fall from the lead and drop outside of the top 10.

While Anderson was able to take over at the front of the field and eventually claim second position behind winner Eli Tomac, Roczen could only recover for 13th position in the end.

Roczen made a strong start in the 450SX main event and led four laps, quickly getting past Shane McElrath and taking the early lead as Anderson started fifth, working his way to second by lap four and began working on Roczen.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider then took an inside line through the sand section, with Roczen to the outside, the pair colliding on corner exit as Anderson made the aggressive pass and later took ownership of the impact.

“I went on the inside of him in the sand and I kind of went for it,” Anderson recalled. “It ended up not so well… I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m that guy tonight. I’ve got to maybe not look at the Instagram too much because we are going to be getting some heat.”

While Anderson was able to hold on and finish the night in P2, Roczen could only manage 13th after remounting, the German dropping to ninth in the championship standings as a result.

“Things were going pretty decent,” Roczen stated. “I struggled with the whoops, so that was definitely not my strong point – I almost went down there once and the same lap I got taken down by Anderson… unfortunately left the door open.

“Probably not the right turn for him to put on a pass, but obviously it got me and I crashed pretty hard right there. I had to make a stop after that to get all the sand out of my goggles and our night was pretty much over after that. I could only salvage 13th place, but we never gave up”.

Round five of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship takes place this Saturday at Glendale, where Roczen will have the opportunity to regain lost points and Anderson will be looking to make inroads on red plate holder Tomac in the standings.