Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial things that came out of Anaheim 3 was the Malcolm Stewart and Jason Anderson incident. Now, a lot of people seemed to have an opinion on this – just look at the amount of replies we got! However, we had to cut them down to just the best ones, so read on to see if yours made the cut. This was the question for the ‘Vice Voice Box’ this week.
Question: What are your thoughts on the Malcolm Stewart/Jason Anderson incident? Was it too aggressive, or just a racing incident?
Jordan Booker (@JordanBookerMX): [It] was entirely [Jason] Anderson’s fault. [Malcolm] Stewart managed to avoid getting landed on.
Steven Lenoir (@LenoirSteven): [Jason] Anderson was really agressive in the heat, so [Malcolm] Stewart did a payback. Not the best move.
James Dunford (Facebook): I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s JA, and I’m biased against him, but Mookie genuinely looked like he just carried too much speed. Anderson (and his shirt flapping around) took a weird entry line, kinda diagonally crossing the corner. Not the smartest move from Mookie, but overall – fine.
Leon Ward (Facebook): [It was] not deliberate, Mookie committed to inside, Jason turned in quick and Mookie had nowhere to go, unfortunately. You can see him carrying a little bit too much speed, but glad to see Anderson didn’t try to kill him when he went back past.
Josh Metcalfe (@JoshMetcalfe100): [It was] revenge for the hard pass on Anderson for the corner before. Good on @Stewart_32 for giving him some back.
Jordan Lilley (Facebook): You get what you dish out, Anderson has been pulling moves with rubbing all of this year, so he’s bound to get it back, and as we know those Stewart boys like shoving it in. But, it looked like to me Mookie’s plan was to double/triple & block pass Anderson, making him and Mookie single the jump they ended up crashing on. But, of course, Anderson cut down and they collided. But, it was also Malcolm who has been passed aggressively by Anderson multiple times this season in rubbing is racing fashion – Mookie showed him he can give it out as much as he can.
Ian Bannister (Facebook): Yeah Malcolm totally done it on purpose. In slow-motion, instead of carrying on the turn leaning to the right, he just stopped turning, went upright and headed off the side. [There is] no need for that sort of riding. If he genuinely was fighting for the same bit of ground they would have contacted a few feet earlier.
Davy Gault (@DavyGault): If you play with fire, eventually you will get burnt.
Timothy Bartee (Facebook): In the slow-motion replay, it did look like Malcolm Stewart stood the bike up just a little, he could have possibly got it turned enough to not take them both out! Always hard to say, because we are not the ones riding. Jason came back and had a good finish in spite. When Jason reposed Malcolm it was clean and fast.
James Herring (Instagram): You could tell Mookie was out to get him back. Last week, it was Cooper Webb cleaning him out, then Anderson goes and put him up against the bails. [I] think he was just showing Anderson that he can dish back if needed.
Sean Ellis (Facebook): 50-50. Malcolm had the inside line, and Anderson did cut in early, at the same time Malcolm sat up, as he knew he wasn’t getting the bike turned in time, although he was already committed. So, it was just one of those things in my eyes.
Ady Cowshall (Facebook): It was payback on Mookie’s part, and fair play to him for giving it back, I’d of done exactly the same had Anderson done it to me. Anderson is an aggressive rider and if you can give it out you gotta be able to take it back.
Jim Davis (Instagram): Malcolm went to the inside, not expecting Anderson to cut in so hard. He stood it up a little to make some room, and the pass. Anderson was trying to cover the inside.
Ryan Gee (Facebook): Racing incident in my opinion. If you were to put blame on anyone, I would say it was Anderson’s fault. Malcolm had the inside line and I’m pretty sure that he wasn’t expecting Anderson to jump across to the inside. He didn’t really give Mookie anywhere to go. It was just one of those things I think, their lines crossed and they both went down.
Jackson Evans (Facebook): Racing is racing , don’t do it if you can’t play the game!
Dan Taylor (Instagram): Anderson’s been giving it out so he should be able to take it. Anderson was the bigger person after though, as later on he could have easily wiped Malcolm out, but [he] decided it was better to get past cleanly and not risk losing more points. I don’t believe it’s to do with Malcolm being on the same team as Seely, as you don’t have team tactics in supercross. Hill and Wilson showed that in Oakland! Of course, you don’t take them out – but you still bar bang!
Words: Lewis Phillips
Image: James Lissimore
