PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 5 of the Monster Energy Supercross Lites West Championship from Anaheim, CA will air on SPEED Sunday, February 5 at 1:00pm ET. #SXonSPEED
In the Western Regional Supercross Lites Class, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac became the first rider in either class to take a second win following a dominant outing in Oakland. He brings the red number plate as the championship leader into Anaheim with a 15 points advantage over the field
“After the front two guys made some pretty big mistakes, I wanted to make sure I stayed consistent once out front,” said Tomac. “I didn’t do anything crazy and was able to ride a solid race. I’m excited, the red backgrounds look good on a Honda.”
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson came into Oakland second in the championship points, only one point behind the leader. After taking the win in his heat race, Wilson was aiming to take over the points lead and coveted red plate. In the main event, he got a great start on his Kawasaki and quickly moved in behind the leader. He began looking for a place to pass, but on the second lap, he crashed, leaving him at the back of the pack. Wilson battled through the field to finish 10th, and salvaged enough points to hang onto the number two spot in the points standings.
“I was pretty disappointed last weekend,” said Wilson. “I got a good start in the main and I thought I had the holeshot, but someone slipped past me on the inside. Early in the race I made a push to get around the leader, but made a mistake and went down. It just sucks because I lost points when I should have taken over the lead. I’ve been working hard this week and I’m going to get after it in Anaheim.”
Fellow Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Tyla Rattray came to Oakland sitting third in the points, only three points behind the leader. During practice, Rattray attempted to dial in the track, but couldn’t get into a rhythm and qualified in 10th position. In the heat race, Rattray crashed while trying to come through the pack and was injured, knocking him out of the competition for the night.
"I’m really bummed out about my injury,” said Rattray. “But I’m very thankful that it didn’t end up worse. I just want to thank everyone for their tremendous support. Hopefully I’ll be back soon."
Marvin Musquin rebounded from a misfortune-stricken previous round for Red Bull KTM, landing on the podium for the second time this season and tying a career-best finish in second.
“I was happy to be on the podium again last weekend,” said Musquin. “I am having a lot of fun racing Supercross and I think I am doing a good job for KTM especially as this is my first time racing in the US Supercross Lites series. I’m looking forward to racing at Angel Stadium again this weekend as we already raced there this year and it will be good to go to a stadium that I am already familiar with. That’s one of the toughest parts about racing for the first time in a new series; getting to know the tracks.”
For Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki, Martin Davalos came tearing out of the gate in Oakland to capture the holeshot and lead the first few laps of the Supercross Lites Class Main Event. Davalos gave it his all and battled for a podium spot for most of the race before a few minor mistakes saw him finish ninth.
“I got great starts this weekend,” said Davalos. “But I made a couple of mistakes and almost went down when I was leading, and I got passed. I know I have what it takes to be up front; I just can’t seem to put it together in a main event. So I’m going to work on a couple of things and try to make everything fall into place for Anaheim 2 this weekend.”
