Ken Roczen has swept the third round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship to extend his overall points lead.
By Hayden Gregory
The RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki Factory rider continues to impress in the premier class winning both motos to make it five wins from six attempts this season.
In moto one, Roczen led start to finish to take victory six seconds ahead of Ryan Dungey. Trey Canard would claim third after a great battle with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Grant.
Canard grabbed the holeshot in moto two ahead of teammate Cole Seely and Andrew Short. Surprisingly Dungey and Roczen would both start outside the top five. The Red Bull KTM rider would make his charge forward first making his way up to second before crashing and falling all the way back to 19th.
Roczen took advantage of the incident moving into third place and setting his sights on the Honda team. By lap three the German rider had the lead before once again checking out on the field.
Tomac was moving swiftly through the pack climbing from 13th place to second by lap eight. Dungey was similarly making easy work of the field charging into the top five by lap nine.
Roczen was unchallenged out front claiming his second win of the day to secure the eighth 450 class win of his career. Tomac landed second while Seely held off a fast finishing Dungey for third.
“My day was great. I grabbed an awesome start in the first moto and never looked back. I just rode a smooth race with minimal mistakes,” said Roczen. “We went into the second moto with a strong mentality. I didn’t get a good start and actually almost crashed. I tried to make some quick moves [to move up to the front] but didn’t want to rush it. Going 1-1 is a great thing headed into the off weekend. I’m really excited for the rest of the season.”
Ryan Dungey was able to record second place for the round with a 2-4 result, Tomac claiming third (5-2).
“Overall it was a good day. We got good starts in both motos. In the first moto we got into second and just tried to maintain that. I felt good going into the second moto. I was up front and trying to go for the lead and my front popped out of the rut and once it hit the soft dirt it just tucked the front end,” said Dungey. “We got up and just tried to pass as many guys as we could. I got up to fourth and wasn’t able to catch [Cole] Seely [for third], but all things considered it was pretty good.”
Roczen now holds a 12 point lead over Dungey in the championship, with Tomac a further 15 points back in third.
450 Class (Moto Finish)
Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki (1-1)
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM (2-4)
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (5-2)
Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (6-3)
Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (3-6)
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Kawasaki (4-7)
Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha (11-8)
Matt Bisceglia, Tualatin, Ore., Suzuki (10-10)
Christophe Pourcel, France, Husqvarna (8-12)
Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda (7-13)
450 Class Championship Standings
Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki – 143
Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM – 131
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 114
Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda – 97
Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 89
Josh Grant, Riverside, Calif., Kawasaki – 88
Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 73
Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 64
Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha – 62
Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki – 50
