a disappointing first race
at Anaheim, by taking
an impressive win in the
West Lites division ahead
of Red Bull KTM’s Marvin
Musquin and teammate
Tyla Rattray.
Rattray grabbed the
holeshot to start the race,
but over-jumped a triple
which allowed Wilson and
Musquin to go by. Once in
the lead, Wilson wasted lit-
tle time establishing a gap
over the field, finishing the
race with 2. 7 seconds to
spare over Musquin, while
Rattray finished third an-
other four seconds back.
Round-one winner Cole
Seely got pinched off at
the start and was forced
to work his way up from
midpack. The Troy Lee
Design/Lucas Oil Honda
rider found his way into
fourth with the laps winding down, however, GEICO Honda Powersport
Honda’s Eli Tomac put on
a strong push at the end,
passing Seely for fourth
with four laps to go.
Zach Osborne, who is
riding the first few Supercross rounds before jetting to Europe for the GP
season, was sixth on a
Monster Energy-backed
Yamaha, while Jason Anderson was seventh on
his Rockstar Energy Suzuki.
Rockstar/Valli/Star
Racing Yamaha’s Nico Izzi
was eighth ahead of Max
Anstie on a Gariboldi Martins Honda.
Rattray benefited from
Seely’s fifth-place finish
to move into the West Lites points lead by a single
point over the Honda rider, 42-41. Meanwhile, Wilson is third with 40. CN
Ryan Dungey: “The
start was the key.”
“That start was key, and I think it was where
most of the races were won tonight,” said
Dungey. “In the heat race, I didn’t get such a
good jump in the heat race, so we did a little
bit of fine tuning - a couple of suspension
changes coming into the main event. I kind
of wheelied out of the gate in the heat and I
thought, ‘okay, I need to get over this motorcycle a little more in the main; and maybe a
little more gas, too.’ Dunlop was a big factor
tonight, as well, helping us make tire choices
because the track was tacky all day, and
then in the main event it was dry and slick,
so a big thanks to all those guys. I was able
to get off the start and that was huge tonight.
“This is a big win for us. I want to do everything I can for this team and for K TM,” added
Dungey. “It was good to get out front early
and ride my own lines and open a gap - a
little cushion - where I could be a little more
flexible if I needed to be. This is definitely
a good momentum booster, for sure. What
happened tonight was great, but at the
end of the day there’s a lot more racing to
go and we’ve got to put this behind us and
move forward. We have a great package, so
now it’s all about winning races and being
consistent.”
