Roczen Returns to AMA Supercross – “L’attesa è finita…”

Scritto lunedì 8 Gennaio 2018 alle 23:30.

The first round of AMA Supercross, at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, was an exciting one for Team Honda HRC as it saw the return of Ken Roczen, who scored an impressive fourth-place finish after being sidelined for nearly a year. When the gate dropped for the main event, the German was slow off the line, leaving him outside the top 15 around the first turn. By the completion of the opening lap, Roczen had made his way into 12th. He continued his charge through the field, moving into sixth halfway through the 24-lap main event. Despite a mistake around the middle of the race, Roczen took the checkered flag in fourth.

Despite having to shake off some pre-race nerves, Cole Seely put together a solid performance to finish sixth on the night. The Californian got off the line to a less-than-desirable start but made quick passes on the opening lap, moving into seventh. He gained one more position after that before settling into sixth.

Ken Roczen 94

“Earlier, I said if I win, get third, or fifth, it doesn’t matter and I’ll be happy, but when I came off the track, it did matter to me. I really wanted to win. I was bummed because halfway through, I had the speed and was catching those guys, but I made a mistake where I scrubbed and dragged my boot on the ground and almost crashed. I was riding a little tight and tried to shake it off, but towards the end I tried to just keep it smart. I didn’t want to do anything stupid because there’s a lot of racing left. The more I think about it, fourth place isn’t too bad. We could’ve had a way worse night, and I really think without that mistake I would’ve been on the podium. There were some nerves on the line just due to lack of experience starting with 20 riders. I kind of messed up both times and just dumped the clutch, so I was pretty far back in the main event, which was a little sketchy. I think if I had gotten a better start, my night would’ve been even better. I’m happy to be here and excited to keep racing.”

Cole Seely 14

“It’s a typical thing to say after Anaheim 1, but it’s good to get the first one out of the way. I think nerves got the best of some of us. I wasn’t really stoked on how I rode. My bike felt good but I was pretty tight. I kind of let other riders dictate my pace, so I was kind of bummed. With it being the first one, I can take all these things in, learn from them, and move on to the next one.”

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“Tonight was a good start to the season. It’s nice to get this first one out of the way and have everyone leaving safe with good, solid finishes. This first round, nobody really knows what to expect, especially Kenny after being off for such a long time, but he was impressive. A fourth is something he can build on to get some more confidence in a normal race situation. Cole learned some stuff and has a few things to work on. His fitness is at a different level this year, so he has the strength and speed but he still needs to work on his aggressiveness during the middle and end of the race.”

Oscar Wirdeman

Mechanic (Ken Roczen)

“Tonight was awesome and a great start to the season. Before this we didn’t even know where we stood. Kenny followed the plan of staying out of trouble and I think he was just one mistake away from being on the podium. His starts weren’t good but that can almost be expected after not racing for almost a year. If someone would’ve said 11 months ago that he would be fourth today, we would’ve been super-stoked. We kind of lost track of how far he’s actually come though, after he qualified first in timed practice, and almost went back to our normal expectations! We changed the suspension throughout the day, and we still have some work to do with the settings, but overall I’m really happy.”

 

Rich Simmons

Mechanic (Cole Seely)

“Overall, tonight wasn’t bad. I just think there were a lot of nerves with it being the first race. I’ve seen Cole like this before but I’ve also seen him do really well here, so it’s just a mental thing that he needs to work on. He was aggressive in the heat race, which was good, and he rode well during the main, but if he was a few tenths-a-lap better, he probably would’ve gotten in front of [Weston] Peick and been with Kenny. He needs to just work on not falling into line with guys and either get around them quicker or move them out of the way—not by taking anyone out or crashing himself, but if he has to be a little more aggressive to get around them, then that’s what it takes. In terms of setup, we kind of chased bike balance all day. We made some adjustments again after the heat races and he said it was good in the main. I don’t take too much from here because with the nerves, everything feels a little different.”

 
AMA Supercross 2018 
Race Round 1  

450SX Main Event

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 26 Red Bull KTM KTM  
2 ANDERSON Jason 21 USA 23 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna  
3 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 21 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha  
4 ROCZEN Ken 94 GER 19 Team Honda HRC Honda  
5 PEICK Weston 23 USA 18 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki  
6 SEELY Cole 14 USA 17 Team Honda HRC Honda  
7 BRAYTON Justin 10 USA 16 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda  
8 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 15 Red Bull KTM KTM  
9 GRANT Joshua 33 USA 14 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki  
10 WEBB Cooper 2 USA 13 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha  
11 MARTIN Jeremy 6 USA 12 GEICO Honda Honda  
12 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 11 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM  
13 FRIESE Vince 45 USA 10 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda  
14 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 9 Bowers Racing Kawasaki  
15 REED Chad 22 AUS 8 CR22 Husqvarna  
16 CUNNINGHAM Kyle 39 USA 7 H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki  
17 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 6 TPJ.com/Fly Racing Honda  
18 RAY Alex   USA 5 Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha Yamaha  
19 BISCEGLIA Matt 58 USA 4 Nut Up Industries/RBI Motorsports Suzuki  
20 TEDDER Dakota 90 USA 3 Team Tedder KTM  
21 ENTICKNAP Adam 722 USA 2 The Privateer Journey Honda  
22 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 1 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki  
 
AMA Supercross 2018 

450SX Rider Standings

Limited to top 30 results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 MUSQUIN Marvin 25 FRA 26 Red Bull KTM KTM
2 ANDERSON Jason 21 USA 23 Rockstar Husqvarna Husqvarna
3 BARCIA Justin 51 USA 21 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha
4 ROCZEN Ken 94 GER 19 Team Honda HRC Honda
5 PEICK Weston 23 USA 18 Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
6 SEELY Cole 14 USA 17 Team Honda HRC Honda
7 BRAYTON Justin 10 USA 16 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda
8 TICKLE Broc 20 USA 15 Red Bull KTM KTM
9 GRANT Joshua 33 USA 14 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
10 WEBB Cooper 2 USA 13 Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team Yamaha
11 MARTIN Jeremy 6 USA 12 GEICO Honda Honda
12 BAGGETT Blake 4 USA 11 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
13 FRIESE Vince 45 USA 10 Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Honda
14 BOWERS Tyler 69 USA 9 Bowers Racing Kawasaki
15 REED Chad 22 AUS 8 CR22 Husqvarna
16 CUNNINGHAM Kyle 39 USA 7 H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki
17 LAMAY Ben 907 USA 6 TPJ.com/Fly Racing Honda
18 RAY Alex   USA 5 Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha Yamaha
19 BISCEGLIA Matt 58 USA 4 Nut Up Industries/RBI Motorsports Suzuki
20 TEDDER Dakota 90 USA 3 Team Tedder KTM
21 ENTICKNAP Adam 722 USA 2 The Privateer Journey Honda
22 TOMAC Eli 3 USA 1 Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki