Image: Octopi Media.

The potential of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Malcolm Stewart was again on display in San Diego, but crashes in the main event cost him any chance to achieve an elusive first 450SX victory at Snapdragon Stadium.

Stewart lit up the timesheets Saturday afternoon with a 50.008s to qualify fastest and carried that form into the night show, with a victory in heat two following a late move on Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki).

The number 27 didn’t make the best start to the final and was charging towards the top-five when it all went wrong, getting off balance on the take-off in a rhythm section and landing hard on a tuff block. Stewart was able to later remount and cross the line in P15.

“A good day turned not so good…” Stewart recalled. “We started strong with qualifying P1 and going on to win my first heat race of the year, but made some mistakes in the main that cost me from a great night! It was great hearing all you guys inside the stadium and seeing the support. We’ll be back for more next week.”

Despite showing plenty of promise, it’s been a challenging start to Stewart’s season in terms of main event results, previously crashing heavily out of podium contention at Anaheim 1’s opener. His next opportunity comes this Saturday again at Angel Stadium, with Anaheim 2 marking the third race of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.