Ferrandis Takes Top-Five Finish at Anaheim 2

30-01-2023

Ferrandis Takes Top-Five Finish at Anaheim 2

Eli Tomac holds onto the red plate, finishing sixth overall despite a crash in the third main event of the Triple Crown

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis finished fifth overall with a 4-6-5 result at the first Triple Crown of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Reigning 450SX Champion Eli Tomac ended the night sixth (3-2-13) despite a crash in the final race, scoring valuable points to stay on top of the points standings.

Ferrandis was sixth in qualifying and got the night show off to a good start with a fourth-place finish in the first main event of the three-race format. He found himself back in eighth after the first lap of race two but put his head down and crossed the line sixth. In the final main event, he was back in fourth after the gate drop but was shuffled to fifth after a mistake on the final lap. The Frenchman’s 4-6-5 score earned a top-five overall finish.

Tomac got the day off to a good start and qualified fourth. Although he didn’t get the start he was looking for in the first main event, he made his way to third before the halfway mark, where he would ultimately finish. The Coloradan put on an impressive charge in the second main event to take the runner-up spot and head into the final race with his eyes set on the overall victory. In the heat of battle with his championship rival, he landed on a tuff block and had a big crash. Tomac rejoined in 14th and was able to salvage a 13th-place finish to end the night sixth overall and leave Southern California with a four-point lead in the 450SX Championship.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads east to Houston, Texas, for the fourth round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the SuperMotocross World Series at the NRG Stadium on February 4.

Jeremy Coker

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager

Overall, it was a really good day. It was a bummer what happened in the last race, but the guys rode well all day. These Triple Crowns aren’t easy. You have to put in three main events – three starts and put everything together. Eli was riding phenomenally. He just had to change his line in that last race and happened to land on a tuff block and had a really big crash. Luckily he was healthy and got up and salvaged some points. Although it wasn’t ideal, this was the perfect night for something like this to happen because it’s the Triple Crown, and we ended up getting sixth overall instead of 13th, and only lost two points. At the end of the day, he’s healthy, and we still have the points lead.

Dylan Ferrandis

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

I had a good first main event and had a very good start, so I was happy about that. I lacked a little bit of pace in the beginning but ended up fourth, which was very good for the first race. In the second moto, I was struggling a bit. It was very rough, and I couldn’t really find my flow and finished sixth. In the last race, I got a good start again and was fourth until the very last lap. There were yellow flags, and the thing on the side of the jump was blinking. I didn’t want to jump on the red cross flag, so I rolled it, and Roczen jumped over me and passed me, so I ended up fifth. Overall, I think it’s my best Triple Crown in the 450 class, and we keep moving forward. We made a big step in the right direction with the bike. We have a good bike to win races, so I can just focus on myself for the next round.

Eli Tomac

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing

We put ourselves in a good spot going into the third main and then obviously made a huge mistake. I went for a triple onto the tabletop and pulled a little bit to the outside when I went onto the ramp and jumped onto the tuff blocks. Honestly, my bike was just wiped away from me and I kind of folded over it. When I cartwheeled, thankfully my body landed on the tuff blocks again, so I came away unscathed. The bike was pretty beat up, but thankfully I was able to keep going and salvage that sixth overall. So, it was a bad scenario but also a good scenario because it was a Triple Crown, and the points damage wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. That’s the way I’m looking at it; to take it as a positive and learn from my mistake and come back next week.

Results

2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Anaheim 2 Results

2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX Championship Standings