Monster Energy Supercross roared back to life this weekend with victories for Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson at Anaheim's Angel Stadium in California.
Defending 250cc West region champion Webb sent a clear message to the rest of the 250 riders, as the Star Racing Yamaha rider decimated the field in a dominant performance to take victory.
Early race leader Jessy Nelson put in a strong ride for the GoPro/Troy Lee Designs KTM team, earning the holeshot and sprinting to a five second lead.
Webb would eventually catch Nelson, and make a pass for the lead at the 10-lap mark. Nelson cruised to the chequered flag for a unchallenged second place finish.
Rounding out the podium was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Zach Osborne, followed by 2015 Australian SX2 champion Jimmy Decotis in an impressive ride on debut for Geico Honda. Fifth went to Decotis' team-mate Jordon Smith after a mid race fall.
Alex Martin, also a debuting his new ride with Star Racing Yamaha, finished a quiet sixth, with Colt Nichols, Joey Savatgy, Mitchell Oldenburg and Kyle Peters rounding out the top 10.
An action packed 450 main event saw a rare red flag (stopped race) brought out three laps into the final, when Ryan Dungey got together with James Stewart causing Stewart to suffer a violent crash.
The race was completely restarted, this time without Stewart.
As the gates dropped, HRC Hondas Cole Seely took the holeshot and promptly sprinted to an open up a five-second lead by mid race. JGR Yamaha's Justin Barcia started second, with Monster Energy Kawasaki's Eli Tomac in third.
An eventful 20-laps would happen in arrears of Seely, with Trey Canard (HRC Honda) and defending champion Dungey (Red Bull KTM)colliding on lap four whilst battling for fourth and fifth position.
Although the commotion ahead of him, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Jason Anderson diced his way from tenth place on the opening lap to the front runners, passing Seely for the lead on lap 13.
From there, Anderson led the following seven laps en route to his first ever Monster Energy Supercross Victory in the 450cc class.
Dungey clawed his way back to finish a very impressive second place finish, whilst early race leader Seely settled for third.
Tomac finished a commendable fourth place after spending four months off of the motorcycle for shoulder surgery, with RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns Suzuki's Ken Roczen salvaging a consistent fifth on a night that would prove challenging for the German.
Australia's Chad Reed finished sixth in an impressive debut ride aboard his new Factory Yamaha, with Canard (HRC Honda), Davi Millsaps (BTOsports.com KTM), Dean Wilson (Red Bull KTM) and Justin Brayton (BTOsports.com KTM) rounding out the top ten.
Monster Energy Supercross heads to Petco Park in San Diego next weekend for round two of the series.
250 Class Points
1 – Cooper Webb 25
2 – Jessy Nelson 22
3 – Zach Osborne 20
4 – Jimmy Decotis 18
5 – Jordon Smith 16
6 – Alex Martin 15
7 – Colt Nichols 14
8 – Joey Savatgy 13
9 – Mitchell Oldenburg 12
10 – Kyle Peters 11
11 – Hayden Mellross 10
12 – Cole Martinez 9
13 – Mitchell Harrison 8
14 – Fredrick Noren 7
15 – Zach Bell 6
16 – Trevor Reis 5
17 – Christian Craig 4
18 – Cole Thompson 3
19 – Kyle Cunningham 2
20 – Maxime Desprey 1
21 – Chris Alldredge 0
22 – Chris Howell 0
450 Class Points
1 – Jason Anderson 25
2 – Ryan Dungey 22
3 – Cole Seely 20
4 – Eli Tomac 18
5 – Ken Roczen 16
6 – Chad Reed 15
7 – Trey Canard 14
8 – Davi Millsaps 13
9 – Dean Wilson 12
10 – Justin Brayton 11
11 – Broc Tickle 10
12 – Jake Weimer 9
13 – Justin Bogle 8
14 – Marvin Musquin 7
15 – Justin Barcia 6
16 – Mike Alessi 5
17 – Wil Hahn 4
18 – Christophe Pourcel 3
19 – Kyle Chisolm 2
20 – Thomas Hahn 1
21 – Lawson Bopping 0
22 – James Stewart 0