Ken Roczen finished 1-1 in another standout motocross performance.
By Hayden Gregory
The sixth round of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series played out in an all too familiar sight, with Roczen pulling off two outstanding moto victories.
In the first race GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle scored the holeshot before Roczen quickly found the race lead. From that point on he chased clean air to easily win his tenth moto of the season by over 13 seconds.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac finished in second place despite stalling his bike late, while Justin Barcia scored his best finish for the season in third.
Bogle again scored the holeshot in moto two before surrendering his early lead to Eli Tomac. Roczen started outside the top five however made quick work of Andrew Short, Broc Tickle and Bogle to find himself in second place.
Moments later Roczen had the lead and round victory was all but his. A sensational charge saw the Suzuki rider press out to a scintillating 30 second lead. Unchallenged Roczen claimed the chequered flag and the round clean sweep. He has now won 11 out of a possible 12 motos to start the season.
“We’ve been doing good work over the whole year,” Roczen commented. “I have to give it up to my team because I went from riding maybe the worst bike I’ve had all year, we made some changes [going into the moto], to the best bike I’ve had all year [in the second moto]. We crushed it in that second moto, and I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Tomac once again claimed second for the round with a 2-2 finish while Broc Tickle (4-3) claimed third in his home race.
Roczen now holds a 53 point lead in the 450 championship. Tomac sits all alone in second place with Marvin Musquin a further 73 points back in third.
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship – RedBud National – Round 6 of 12
450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
1 Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki (1-1)
2 Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (2-2)
3 Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki (4-3)
4 Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha (3-4)
5 Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (5-6)
6 Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki (7-5)
7 Christophe Pourcel, France, Husqvarna (6-7)
8 Matt Bisceglia, Tualatin, Ore., Suzuki (8-8)
9 Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda (10-9)
10 Benny Bloss, Oak Grove, Mo., KTM (11-10)
450 Class Championship Standings
1 Ken Roczen, Germany, Suzuki – 293
2 Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 240
3 Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 167
4 Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda – 151
5 Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki – 147
6 Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha – 146
7 Christophe Pourcel, France, Husqvarna – 136
8 Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM – 131
9 Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., Honda – 118
10 Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 113
