Features 20 Jan 2025

Reaction: 2025 Supercross Rd2 San Diego

Assorted racer comments following this year's second round.

San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium delivered an exciting Saturday of racing, with Eli Tomac and Julien Beamuer claiming victory and taking sole possession of the 450SX and 250SX West red plates. We’ve gathered the direct takes from riders for this Reaction feature from round two of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross Championship season.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Sixth:
It was a chaotic night for me. I fell on the first lap and had to do a lot of work to catch back up. I felt like my riding was really good and the bike felt good, so honestly, we just need to work on our starts and get ready for Anaheim 2. I feel pretty confident with where I’m at, so I’m excited.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – DNF:
San Diego was an interesting one. I didn’t really feel comfortable early on, so we made some changes and they felt really good during the heat race. I actually felt good and I was able to push and have some really good lap times, so I went into the main optimistic and got a decent start, but unfortunately, I got wrapped up with Chase. I got up and tried to charge through the pack, but then I crashed on the triple-quad section – before I knew it, I was on the ground. I’m not hurt bad – I’m just really sore – but I didn’t feel like my head was in the right space and I decided to call it a night. It’s been a tough start to the season, but we’ve got 15 more rounds and I can definitely bounce back next weekend.

Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
It was a much better day today. I was fourth in qualifying, and then the main event went well overall. I was second off the start, which was really good, and led about half the race. I was just a little under the weather, so it was tough and about halfway, that was all I had. That being said, Eli [Tomac] and Jett [Lawrence] were hauling butt. They were on it tonight, so I’m happy with the podium. We’ll get back to work.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – First:
It was an outstanding race for us. To get a win was so special, and to get it done in the full 20-minute main event was a huge deal for me and a testament that we’ve been getting stronger and faster. Throughout the off-season, with the training and the racing, we’ve been working to improve areas where we thought we were a little bit weak, and now it’s showing. It’s just so cool to get this win tonight and to do it by making passes and having to really work our way to the front.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 11th:
It was a tough day for me all day long. My riding was okay, but I locked bars with a rider in the heat race, and then a bad gate pick in the main left me pretty far back. I just did what I could from there. It’s time to rebound next weekend.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC Progressive) – Second:
A lot of improvement over last weekend, so I’m super happy. The bike is getting better and better. I felt good through the night – I just made the one little mistake of going back to the inside in the sand and Tomac getting me, but we’re looking forward to the next rounds to come up. I’m feeling more familiar with the bike each weekend. I’m looking forward to it; we’re going to go home, just log some laps in and hopefully get a better result next weekend.

Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC Progressive) – Fifth:
I had been struggling with my throat a bit during the week, and I thought it was more from the ashes and stuff from the fires [in Southern California]. I thought I was coming good, and then Friday night, it just got so bad. It was a really tough day. I’m feeling pretty sick, and I have no energy, so I’m pretty happy to come out fifth. I did what I needed to do to make my night a little easier. It was a tough day at the office, but I’m just looking to get back to 100 percent as soon as I can.

Justin Barcia (Rockstar Energy GasGas Factory Racing) – Eighth:
It was a better day, for sure. We started off qualifying P7, which was good, as I’ve struggled in practice a bit so far this year. The bike was working well though! My heat race was good, but I needed a better start, and it was the same in the main event. I needed to fight really hard to eighth place, so it wasn’t the result we wanted, but we did a lot of good stuff today and we’re extremely excited to fix a few little things this week and come out swinging at A2.

Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Seventh:
San Diego was a good rebound from what happened to me at A1. I felt pretty good in practice and my heat race was solid. Then in the main, I didn’t get the best start, but I kinda made it work going into the first turn and I was sitting inside the top five. During the race there were times I felt like, ‘Alright, let’s go’, but I made a few mistakes and felt a little flat. I’m not sure if it’s because I was a little stiff, but at the end of the day we finished seventh and we can keep building from here. Even though I’m not riding to my full potential, I was still able to land inside the top 10.

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 13th:
My day was not the greatest, but I ended up qualifying sixth, which was pretty average. I
finished third in my heat race, which was better than I expected since I am under the weather. I
did not have a great start and then had some other issues in the main event. I’ve been sick this
week and it got to me by the end of the night. My energy was fading and it showed the last
couple laps of the main. I am happy to have made it out healthy and I’m looking forward to being
healthier for next weekend.

Jorge Prado (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 12th:
I think there are positives to take from the weekend besides the result. I was riding well in the heat race, made good moves on the first lap, and then around Lap 3 I went down with another rider, so I was pretty far behind. I almost made my way up to a transfer spot, but I just couldn’t make the pass. Then I went to the LCQ, got the holeshot, and won that race. The gate pick for the main event was not ideal, so it was a long way for me to get to the inside. I started towards the back out of the first corner and made some good passes. I had a good rhythm and felt good but still have a lot of work to do. I am still learning the whoops since I have never done that type of section before on a track. Right now it is all about learning and getting more comfortable, but my riding was better than last week and in seven days I look to improve my results again.

Joey Savatgy (Quad Lock Honda) – 10th:
It’s okay, but not where I want to be. I lost time playing it safe behind a slower rider because I couldn’t predict his moves, which cost me too much ground. However, I’m happy I was able to recover and work my way back to 10th. I need to be sharper at the start if I want to compete with the front runners.

Shane McElrath (Quad Lock Honda) – 17th:
I made too many mistakes, rode tight, and pumped up. We made two significant shock changes today, which were positive, and my best lap times in the main were competitive. I just need to be more consistent if I want to finish inside the top 10. I’m frustrated but not defeated, this is only race two. We’re currently 13th overall, and we’re aiming for the top 10. We’ll get there.

Ken Roczen (Progressive Ecstar Suzuki) – Fourth:
I think my race overall was really good. I was happy with it. Of course, there are always things you want to work on and try to get better. I’m staying in California this week and we’re going to work on a couple of little things. We are in a good spot, we had a really good race, and I am happy with the fourth place.

Colt Nichols (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 18th:
San Diego, round two, was a tough one. I got a bad start in the main and I struggled to get a flow of the track, but I needed to get through a main and see the pace. I definitely have some work to do. I’m going to go back home and try to work on a few things, a little bit at a time, and be better next weekend.

Kyle Chisholm (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 20th:
I lined up for the LCQ. I didn’t have a very good gate pick, but it was time to make it happen or go home, and I did not want to go home. So, I ripped an awesome start and came out in second. I ran second for most of the race and ended up third. In the main, I rode better than I did last week even though, on paper, I’m still not where I want to be… It’s early in the season, everybody’s healthy, and there are a lot of fast guys right now, so it’s tough. But we’re out there battling every week in the main event. At 37 years old, it definitely doesn’t get any easier trying to keep up with all these kids. I’m enjoying it, having fun, and I’m happy to be out there in the main event, but I want more and want to do better

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – First:
This is the first main event win of my career, but I’m trying not to get too excited about it right now, as we have a championship to go for. I didn’t have the greatest heat, but made it happen when it counted! This is definitely confidence-boosting. At the start of this year I had a goal and I needed to believe in myself and I feel that I showed how much I believe in myself tonight. The track was pretty tight and I felt everything was built a little differently, so it was definitely tricky, but I’m really satisfied with the result tonight.

Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
Today started out pretty good and I qualified first. The heat race wasn’t too bad. I felt really fast. I just made a mistake and crashed, but I still finished third. In the main event, I got an okay start and was feeling alright the first few laps going through the pack. I just pumped up pretty bad and kind of had to salvage it from there and finish on the podium.

Cole Davies (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fourth:
It definitely was a good day today and a step in the right direction. I was seventh in qualifying and wasn’t too happy with that, to be honest, but I reset for the heat race. I got a good gate pick and ripped a great start, and got my first-ever heat race win, so I’m stoked about that. Then I had the first gate pick for the main, and I ripped a start again and led some laps, which was awesome. JuJu [Beaumer] got by me, and then I made a mistake and it was a bit of a snowball effect, but I made a last corner pass for fourth. So we’re happy with today. We’re just going to keep building each week.

Michael Mosiman (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Ninth:
San Diego was an improvement. I took what I learned from A1 and built on it. I was better in qualifying and better in the heat race, but was just a bad start away from having a great main. I was coming through the pack nicely and making progress towards the front, but then a rider went down in front of me and I lost a lot of time and positions that made a big difference in the end. Ninth is not where I want to be, but looking beyond the finishing place, San Diego’s race showed a lot of promise of good things to come. I’ll learn from the mistakes here and be better for next weekend

Jo Shimoda (Team Honda HRC Progressive) – Seventh:
Overall it’s good to score a little bit of points. Obviously I ended the night with two broken fingers, but I’m looking to get a little recovery and hopefully be a little better next weekend.

Ryder DiFrancesco (Rockstar Energy GasGas Factory Racing) – Fifth:
San Diego was good all day! My qualifying, heat race and main event were all consistent. The main was going to plan until halfway when I made a huge mistake and got bumped back to fourth, then got passed on the last lap and finished fifth. My goal was to be in the fight all year and that’s where we are, so it was a good day all-in-all.

Garret Marchbanks (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Eighth:
Today was solid overall, but the main didn’t go as planned. Qualifying was decent in P10 overall. In the heat, I had a strong start, took the lead by Lap 2, and won my fourth career heat race, which felt great. The main was tougher – I got shuffled back to 16th early but charged up to finish eighth. The track was challenging with limited passing lanes, but I’m feeling good heading into next weekend.

Jordon Smith (Triumph Factory Racing) – Second:
Another great night! We struggled a little in the daytime but made some good moves as a team to improve the bike set-up. The track was gnarly in the main event. I got a good start and tried to not over push – it was important to respect the track. We gained some good points and now there is just one more step to go to get to the top of the podium!

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