All Photos by: Chase Yocom

It’s that time: time to kick off the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM SX World Championship series, with the most talked about Anaheim 1 in decades. The music has finally stopped in the Supercross industry’s crazy game of musical chairs known as Silly Season, and today it is time for one the deepest groups of talent the sport has ever seen to start it all at the big A.

There have been years in the past where the hype has far outdone the actual racing, but with Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey coming in with the #1, Chad Reed starting his second year back with Yamaha, HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen looking to put Honda back on the SX map, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac looking to bring what he learned in 2016 into 2017 on the green bike, Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson trying to make it two in a row at A1 and the rookie phenom Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb making his 450SX debut, it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top. Add into the equation HRC / Honda’s Cole Seely, Red Bull / KTM’s Trey Canard and Marvin Musquin, JGRMX/Yamaha’s Weston Peick and big question marks like RCH / Yoshimura / Suzuki’s Justin Bogle, Smartop / MotoConcepts / Honda’s Justin Brayton, Rocky Mountain ATV / KTM’s Blake Baggett and Davi Millsaps, and we have possibly the largest gathering of talent ever.

In the 250SX Western Regional Championship, Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb retired from the class with back-to-back championships and left it wide open. On the top of the list to close that door is GEICO / Honda’s Jeremy Martin, the Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki riders Justin Hill and Austin Forkner, Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos, Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger, Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath and even possibly 51Fifty / Yamaha’s Tyler Bowers. While they are the names that jump out at us, there’s still some possible dark horses out there and some great story lines with veterans like Smartop / MotoConcepts / Honda’s Kyle Chisholm, LVN100 / Nut Up / Munn Racing / Husqvarna’s Josh Hansen and GEICO / Honda’s Jimmy Decotis that could surprise.

Ryan Dungey will try for the three-peat in the 450SX class.
Ryan Dungey will try for the three-peat in the 450SX class.

The 2017 Monster Energy Supercross series marks the 43rd year of Supercross racing, and this will be the 27th time that Anaheim Stadium will play host to the opener. Over the years, riders have learned that you can’t win the series at the opener, but you damn sure can give it away there. While fans think of Anaheim 1 as one of the most important races of the year, riders see it more as a good race to find out where they are at in comparison to their competition–and a place to get some points on the board. Ricky Carmichael is the only man in the history of the sport that did not score a point at the opener and still went on to win the series, so that, in itself, is proof of the importance of getting some points on the board at A1. Still, solid points are more important than a win at Anaheim 1. Carmichael won five championships, but never won Anaheim 1 as a part of any of those.

With rain falling for the last two days straight—including last night—mud was the talk of the morning, but dust was actually in the air for the opening qualifying sessions. The circuit is still moist in spots, but overall the riders were greeted with near-perfect Anaheim conditions.

In early 450SX qualifying today, HRC’s newest recruit, Roczen (1:02.580), finished out the opening session with the fastest lap time ahead of Musquin (1:02.999), Seely (1:03.230), Anderson (1:03.241) and Dungey (1:03.283). The field is as deep as it’s ever been and it showed as the leader board swapped throughout the session. Even riders like Peick and Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Josh Grant spent time on the leader board, but as the session wound down Roczen and Musquin took over at the top.

At the halfway mark of the opening 450SX session, Tomac (1:03.547) was on top of the board, but he could not find the second he needed to keep the pace and dropped back to finish session one in seventh. Finishing just ahead of Tomac was Canard in sixth and just behind Tomac was Grant in eighth. It’s only session one of the year, but if we were going to list session one surprises, we would say the two biggest were the Factory Yamaha boys. Webb (1:03.903) finished session one of his 450SX career with the eleventh fastest time, while Reedy (1:04.205) was way down in sixteenth, but we will wait until session two before we worry about the boys in blue.

Marvin will try to carry his momentum into '17.
Marvin will try to carry his momentum into ’17.

Over the off season, Marvin Musquin won everything he entered. The Red Bull Straight Rhythm, Geneva SX and Lille-Bercy SX were all won by the Frenchman, and he started off 2017 with the number one overall qualifying time (1:02.11) in the final 450SX session. Marvin came close to winning one in ’16, but with the way he looked today, his first win is right around the corner.

Behind Marvin was Tomac (1:02.100), Seely (1:02.334), Anderson (1:02.364), Roczen (1:02.428), Baggett (1:02.810) and Dungey (1:02.821) all within a second of the leader. The Anaheim circuit is usually one of the longer tracks we see all year, but there’s really not too much to separate the top guys. There are a few big options riders are eyeing in the long rhythm sections, although, everyone is doing similar rhythms thus far.

The first person over a second off the pace is Reedy down in eighth with a 1:03.242. That’s not where Reed wants to be, but it’s close enough to head to the line knowing that, with a start, he can make something happen. Between Reed in eighth and Webb in 13th there are just two tenths of a second, so from front to back tonight it is anyone’s guess what is going to happen.

Ken Roczen is looking for Honda's first championship since Ricky Carmichael.
Ken Roczen is looking for Honda’s first championship since Ricky Carmichael.

Check out the top 40 450MX qualifying times below.

450SX Top 40 Overall Combined Qualifying Times

Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow

2017 Anaheim 1 SX – 450SX Overall Combined Qualifying – Click to Enlarge
Aaron Plessinger was fast from start to finish this afternoon.
Aaron Plessinger was fast from start to finish this afternoon.

In the first 250SX qualifying session, it was Plessinger setting the fastest lap (1:04.143) mid way through the sessions, and he stayed on top. Hill (1:04.585) was on top before the Yamaha took the spot away, but “Little Hill” hung on to second just ahead of Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Mitchell Oldenburg (1:04.599), J. Martin (1:04.626) and Decotis (1:04.837). If there was a surprise in the top five, that would be Jimmy D. We weren’t sure what to expect from Jimmy, but he’s obviously done the work heading into ’17.

One rider outside the top five in session one that we thought would be further up is the rookie Austin Forkner. Austin comes in with a lot of hype, but we quickly forget that the #24 has never raced an SX before today. With a 1:05.057, he is less than a second off the lead, and I think we’re going to see that he has a lot more in him.

Jeremy Martin saved his speed for the final qualifying session.
Jeremy Martin saved his speed for the final qualifying session.

In the final 250SX qualifying sessions of the day, Jeremy Martin came out looking like a different rider than in session one. The #6 jumped immediately into the top three and moved to the top of the leader board with a 1:02.925. Martin had nearly a full second on Oldenburg with time winding down. Then Hill closed the gap with a 1:03.242 and moved Oldenburg to third overall. In the end, Martin made the first big statement of 2017 and will choose the first gate on the line in the night show.

After qualifying first in the opening session, Plessinger was only able to lock down the fourth overall fastest lap time (1:04.015) in the final session just a tick ahead of McElrath (1:04.090) who finished fifth overall. Plessinger was quick in both sessions and looks ready to try to fill the void left by Webb over at Star Racing.

Keep your eyes on the #24 in 2017. Austin Forkner is not looking for his rookie year to be just a learning year.
Keep your eyes on the #24 in 2017. Austin Forkner is not looking for his rookie year to be just a learning year.

Check out the top 40 250MX qualifying times below.

250SX West Top 40 Overall Combined Qualifying Times

Click Time Sheets to View in Slideshow

2017 Anaheim 1 SX – 250SX Overall Combined Qualifying – Click to Enlarge
Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.