LaRocco second despite spill.

Team Factory Connection / Honda Racing's Mike 'The Rock' LaRocco came to Round one of the EA Sports Supercross Series in Anaheim with one goal in mind - to win!

'The Rock' was blazingly fast in heat race number one, wasting no time passing Jeremy McGrath, and eventually running away with victory to secure his place at the front of the final.

In the main event, LaRocco jumped out to a fifth place start and quickly began to pressure the front runners. He caught up to Honda Racing's Ricky Carmichael, who was running a blistering pace, but 'RC' mis-judged a step-up jump on lap five, and was thrown over the bars. LaRocco, caught in the midst of Carmichael's crash, also went down.

'The Rock' then had to pick himself up off the ground - which was more than the winded Carmichael could manage - and charge through the pack. The Indiana native did just that and would go on to finish the first race of the season in an extraordinary second place.

"I got the start that I needed and was able to catch the front pack early," LaRocco revealed, "I started closing in on Ricky, and as we approached a difficult step-up jump out of the tunnel, he lost control of his bike and clipped me and I went down with him.

"The track was deceivingly difficult tonight. It became very slick towards the end of the main event and the whoops were really hard to go through at a consistent pace. I'm just happy to come away from round one on the podium and look forward to San Diego."

LaRocco's team-mate, Michael Byrne, pulled the holeshot in the 250cc main event and would eventually finish a very respectable fourth place position for the night. Meanwhile, Honda Racing's Ernesto Fonseca turned in an outstanding performance with a third place finish in the 250cc event. The round marked Fonseca's first ever 250cc race, and 'The Fonz' proved that he is a force to be reckoned with.

"It was an excellent race out there tonight," Fonseca said, "I didn't make hardly any mistakes and that was key on this type of race track. My game plan was to be consistent and the strategy paid off for myself and my Honda CR250."

Elsewhere, Honda Racing's Nathan Ramsey started the 250cc main event in top form. The likeable 'Nate Dawg' was running in second place until mistakes hampered his hopes for a podium finish. Ramsey wound up in 17th position for the night, riding Honda's new CRF450R in the 2002 series.

"I really like the bike," he said, "The power is unreal and traction that the CRF450R holds is just incredible. The first race is always tough, but I learned a bunch tonight and we will definitely improve next week in San Diego."

[picture courtesy of www.supercross.com]