Temecula’s Christian Craig won the AMA Supercross 250SX main event Saturday, Jan. 29, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Craig finished 2.948 seconds before second-place Michael Mosiman, who trains both in Murrieta and Florida. Craig took the lead from Mosiman in the 10th lap of the 16-lap race.
“You don’t want to be in second, but you do at the same time because you’re learning,” Craig said.
“I think he had a little bit of an advantage being behind me,” Mosiman said. “I wasn’t quite sure what was the best line.”
Florida rider Hunter Lawrence finished third, 13.997 seconds behind Mosiman. Menifee’s Jo Shimoda finished seventh and was 53.867 seconds slower than Craig. Murrieta’s Vince Friese was among the top three for most of the race before a 15th-lap crash which relegated him to 19th place.
During the first qualifying session Craig posted the fastest lap at 1:04.255, Mosiman qualified second with a fast lap of 1:04.708, Shimoda was the third-fastest qualifier with a 1:04.933 lap and Friese had a fast lap of 1:07.189 to qualify 10th. Craig was also the fastest qualifier in the second session with a lap of 1:04.242, Mosiman had the second-fastest qualifying time of 1:04.281, Shimoda qualified fourth with a lap of 1:05.392 and Friese was the sixth-fastest qualifier after a 1:05.317 lap.
The heat races were seven laps. Mosiman won the first heat race in 7:26.193 with Friese finishing 4.669 seconds later for second place. Shimoda was fourth in that heat race and trailed Mosiman by 9.491 seconds. Friese led the first five laps while Mosiman was in front at the end of the sixth and seventh laps. Craig won the second heat race in 7:18.144, finishing 3.574 seconds faster than second-place Nate Thrasher of Tennessee; Craig had taken the lead from Thrasher in the second lap.
Craig had the first start for the main event and Mosiman started second. “I really think that we were evenly matched,” Mosiman said.
Friese had the fourth starting position. Shimoda started eighth.
Mosiman was ahead at the holeshot, but Friese took the lead later in the first lap and was in front at the end of that lap. Shimoda was third after one lap while Craig was in fourth.
Mosiman displaced Friese to second during the second lap after Mosiman completed the fastest lap of the race for any driver in 1:03.643 while Craig took over third from Shimoda in that lap. In the third lap Lawrence passed Shimoda for fourth place. Craig moved by Friese for second place in the fourth lap. The positions of the first five riders did not change between the end of the fourth lap and the completion of the ninth lap, which meant that Mosiman was in the lead and Craig was second.
“I got out and got right behind him,” Craig said. “I just pressured him.”
The fifth lap was Craig’s fastest of the race and took him 1:04.092.
The 10th lap took Craig 1:06.343 while Mosiman completed that lap in 1:07.141. “I knew how close we were in times,” Craig said. “Once I did catch up to him, he made a few mistakes.”
That allowed Craig to make the pass for first. “To do that in the main was a lot of fun,” he said.
“I knew he was going to put up a fight for the lead,” Craig said. “He gave me a couple of inches.”
Mosiman remained in second for the rest of the race. “I thought I had more time,” he said. “I think my weakness was the sand.”
Friese remained in third until the crash in the 15th lap forced him to leave the track. Shimoda was involved in the chaos and lost two positions during the lap. He remained in seventh for the remainder of the race.
“I had a great race,” Mosiman said. “Sometimes I’ll win and sometimes I won’t.”
Mosiman had won the previous race Jan. 22 at Petco Park in San Diego with Lawrence finishing second and Craig taking third place. Craig won the season’s first two main events Jan. 8 at Angel Stadium and Jan. 15 at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland.
Craig rides a Yamaha YZ250F, Mosiman uses a GASGAS MC 250F, Shimoda has a Kawasaki KX250 motorcycle and Friese competes with a Honda CRF250R.
Eli Tomac of Colorado won the 450SX main event. Murrieta’s Malcolm Stewart finished fifth in the 450cc feature. Marvin Musquin, who lives in Corona but trains at the KTM facility in Murrieta, was sixth. Murrieta rider Dean Wilson obtained ninth place.
Ryder Difrancesco of Bakersfield won the 250SX Futures main event with Manuel Moreno of Lake Elsinore taking fourth and Brad West of Menifee garnering fifth place.
Joe Naiman can be reached by email at jnaiman@reedermedia.com.
