Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Jason Anderson captured the first outdoor victory of his career in the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Hangtown, splitting 450MX wins with Eli Tomac.

It appeared that the opening premier class moto was going to belong to Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC), but it was top-qualifier Anderson who pressed on to make his move with five laps remaining and that’s where he would remain.

Sexton jumped out front for the holeshot and controlled things, however, Anderson was relentless in his pursuit, but still only won by 0.390s once he made his move. Almost 30 seconds further back was Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) in a continuation of his podium form, directly ahead of Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Eli Tomac and Christian Craig inside the top five.

Sixth and seventh were Red Bull KTM duo Ryan Dungey and Tony Cairoli, who is now expected to continue beyond this weekend, while Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) – despite an awkward fall in the opening laps – and Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) were the top 10.

On return to competition, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy claimed 11th position in the first encounter of this afternoon.

Another tight one in the second 450MX moto was won by Tomac after he was able to hold Sexton at bay on the final lap, with Anderson’s third enough to clinch victory for the round.

The final moto of the round saw Cairoli power to a popular holeshot, with Roczen in tow and quickly taking over at the head of the pack. That was until Sexton went by on lap five, later followed by Tomac and the race was on in the midway stages.

As he does, Tomac kept charging and hit the lead with eight minutes remaining, while at a similar moment, Anderson passed Roczen for P3 and that put him into position for the overall. Sexton didn’t give up, however, finishing 1.288s behind Tomac at the end, with Anderson third.

Next in line was Roczen, while the ever-consistent Craig claimed fifth. Cairoli turned the tables on Dungey this time around for sixth and seventh, followed by Plessinger, Savatgy and Fredrik Noren (BBMX KTM).

The round win belonged to Anderson ahead of Sexton, who maintains the red plates, with Tomac third. In the standings, Sexton leads by 12 points over Roczen, with Anderson a further six back in third heading to Colorado next Saturday.

Detailed results