Ken Roczen – 2020 Supercross – 450 Main Event Highlights – Anaheim 2
Una settimana dopo la sua emozionante vittoria a St. Louis, Ken Roczen del Team Honda HRC ha realizzato un’altra prestazione impressionante a bordo della sua CRF450R. Durante il terzo round della serie AMA Supercross, nella sua seconda e ultima tappa all’Angel Stadium di Anaheim, ha ottenuto un forte risultato al secondo posto e ha assunto un vantaggio in classifica nella corsa al titolo.
Ha preso un piccolo vantaggio sul resto del campo, ma man mano che la gara avanzava, le sue lotte con le whoops lo hanno costretto a venire colpito dal fuoco di Eli Tomac. Al 13 ° minuto, Roczen ha ceduto il comando, ma ha continuato a gettare solidi giri e ha preso la bandiera a scacchi al secondo.
Il compagno di squadra Justin Brayton ha mostrato ancora una volta una notevole velocità, chiudendo settimo. Brayton è partito in modo poco desiderabile, seduto all’11° dopo il completamento del giro di apertura. Ha rapidamente iniziato a farsi strada, avanzando all’ottavo posto al terzo giro. Ha lottato per aggirare un altro pilota per gran parte della gara, ma alla fine ha fatto una mossa all’undicesimo giro per prendere il settimo posto, dove è finito.
Ken Roczen 94
“La mia notte è stata abbastanza buona. Ho avuto una bella battaglia con Adam [Cianciarulo] nella gara di quali, che è stata divertente e buona per vincere. Questo mi ha messo in una buona posizione per l’evento principale e per essere in grado di scegliere un cancello decente. Stasera, però, praticamente ogni gate all’inizio era molto rovinato e c’erano molte buche, quindi era difficile decidere quale scegliere. Ma o scelto davvero bene e ho ottenuto il mio primo holeshot dell’anno, quindi è stato bello. Abbiamo lavorato molto sulle mie startup, quindi è stato ripagato. Per essere in grado di vincere stasera, dovevo andare molto meglio nelle whoops. Stavo solo lottando lì per l’intera gara, quindi non mi ha aiutato; Mi sento come se avessi perso tutto il mio tempo lì. Stavo cercando di scremarli, poi sono andato a saltarli, il che era anche orribile; Ho perso un sacco di terreno, quindi sono tornato a scremare e sono stato ripreso ed è lì che Eli [Tomac] ha recuperato un sacco di tempo e si è chiuso su di me. Abbiamo sicuramente del lavoro da fare ma non vogliamo diventare troppo pazzi. Dobbiamo solo continuare a fare quello che stiamo facendo. Siamo in una buona posizione in questo momento e non ci resta che continuare. Primo lo scorso fine settimana e secondo questo fine settimana, oltre alla tabella rossa è davvero fantastico. Sono veramente felice.”
Justin Brayton 10
Sono abbastanza contento di come è andata la gara stasera. Un po ‘sconvolto dopo la gara di quali dopo aver ottenuto l’Holeshot ma mi sono schiantato nel primo turno, il che mi ha portato per una brutta scelta del cancello per il main. Questo era piuttosto cruciale con le carreggiate in uscita dal cancello, ma sono stato in grado di iniziare intorno all’11 ° o 12 ° e passare fino al settimo posto. A metà gara, ero in realtà uno dei ragazzi più veloci in pista. Con una migliore posizione in pista, penso sicuramente di poter salire sul podio. Nel complesso è stata davvero una buona notte, e anche se i primi tre round sono andati bene, non vedo l’ora di migliorare e di entrare tra i primi cinque. ”
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One week after his emotional St. Louis win, Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen turned in another impressive performance aboard his CRF450R. During round three of the AMA Supercross series, in its second and final stop to Anaheim’s Angel Stadium, he scored a strong second-place result and assumed an early lead in the title chase.
Once again, Roczen started the night on a strong note, battling to a win in his heat race. When the gate fell on the main event, the German impressed everyone, rocketing down the start straight with the holeshot and early lead. He opened a small gap on the rest of the field but as the race progressed his struggles in the whoops caused him to come under fire from Eli Tomac. At the 13-minute mark, Roczen relinquished the lead, but he continued to lay down solid laps and took the checkered flag in second.
Teammate Justin Brayton once again showed notable speed, finishing seventh. Brayton got off to a less-than-desirable start, sitting 11thafter the completion of the opening lap. He swiftly began working his way forward, progressing to eighth on lap three. He struggled to get around another rider for much of the race, but finally made a move on lap 11 to take over seventh, which is where he finished.
Ken Roczen 94
“My night was pretty good. I had a good battle with Adam [Cianciarulo] in the heat race, which was fun and good to come away with the win. That put me in a good position for the main event and to be able to pick a decent gate. Tonight though, pretty much every gate on the start was super rough and there were a lot of holes, so it was hard to decide which one to pick. But I hooked up really good and got my first holeshot of the year, so that was nice. We’ve been putting in a lot of work on my starts, so it’s been paying off. For me to be able to win tonight, I had to be a lot better in the whoops. I was just struggling there the entire race, so that didn’t help me out; I feel like I lost all my time there. I was trying to skim them, then went to jumping them, which was horrible too; I lost a lot of ground so went back to skimming and just was all over the place and that was where Eli [Tomac] made up a lot of time and closed in on me. We definitely have some work to do but don’t want to get too crazy. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re in a good spot right now and we just have to keep it up. First last weekend and second this weekend, plus the red plate is really great. I’m really happy.”
Justin Brayton 10
I’m pretty happy with how the race went tonight. A little bummed after the heat race after getting the holeshot but crashing in the first turn, which set me up for a bad gate pick for the main. That’s pretty crucial now with how bad the ruts get outside the gate, but I was able to start around 11th or 12th and pass my way up to seventh. At the middle of the race, I was actually one of the fastest guys on the track. With a better track position, I definitely think I could end up on the podium. Overall a really good night, and although the first three rounds have gone well, I’m looking forward to improving and getting into the top five.”
Erik Kehoe
Team Manager
“There are a lot of positives to take away from tonight. Ken’s starts were solid and he was able to grab another heat-race win. He’s been putting a lot of work and emphasis on his starts during the week so I think it’s showing. He rode strong in the main, getting some more laps up front and then finishing second. To come away with red plate is great. It was also a solid night for Justin. He got a good start in his heat race but unfortunately went down in the first turn. He was still able to get up and get into a transfer spot. In the main, he also put together good laps to finish seventh. We’ve still got some work to do for both guys but I think we’re in a good spot overall.”
Jordan Troxell
Mechanic (Ken Roczen)
“I’m really happy coming away with a second place tonight. Ken got a great start but was struggling a bit so fell back to second. It was really good to hold on to second because Cooper [Webb] was pushing hard there at the end, but Ken dug deep and finished strong. We ended up with the red plate too, so overall it’s good. Bike-wise, Ken was on the same setup from St. Louis. We did make some small adjustments throughout the day but nothing too drastic. He struggled in the whoops again but both these Anaheim tracks have been really tough. We’ll work on it and try to get him more comfortable there. It’s early but I think we’re in a good spot for the duration of the series. Ken had a ride tonight that he might not be super-pumped about, but in my mind it was a championship ride. He was struggling but still hunkered down and got it done. I think 10 weeks down the road, he’ll look back and be proud of this ride. If we can continue to be consistent and put in some good results, we’ll hopefully put a cushion on the lead.”
Brent Duffe
Mechanic (Justin Brayton)
“Today was a pretty good to us; we had a really good energy around the whole team after Ken’s success last week. Justin made a pretty big change to his shock this last week and I think it showed, as he was comfortable in practice, felt better in the whoops and just overall happier. He almost pulled the holeshot in his heat race but to crash and still be able to come back and qualify, that was great—not the way we’d like to do it but after last week it was nice to have that time to relax and get ready for the main event. In the main, Justin was able to work his way from outside the top 10 to seventh, so it was nice to see him work his way forward throughout the race, versus the past couple weekends where he’s started more toward the front and fallen back to eighth. It was also nice to see the speed he was able to put together during the middle of the race, when he was the fastest guy on the track at one point. It shows that all the steps we’re taking are in the right direction. We just need all the pieces of the puzzle to come together. Next weekend should be really good for us. Justin likes Phoenix and the triple crown format so it should be good.”