Ken Roczen “I’m positive” – Hunter Lawrence Win at Arlington 2 Supercross!

Scritto giovedì 18 Marzo 2021 alle 09:09.

Hunter Lawrence vince l’AMA 250SX in carriera all’Arlington 2 Supercross

Nella sesta gara di supercross della sua carriera, Hunter Lawrence del Team Honda HRC ha ottenuto la sua prima vittoria in 250SX in modo convincente, al round di Arlington 2. Il giovane australiano è partito quinto e ha rapidamente avanzato di un posto, quindi ha effettuato un block pass per il terzo. Al sesto giro, ha capitalizzato quando il duo di testa ha perso slancio, superandoli entrambi per portare la sua CRF250R in testa. A quel punto, Lawrence è salpato, segnando il miglior tempo della gara al giro successivo e andando avanti per ottenere una vittoria emozionante di oltre cinque secondi. Con l’ex leader della caccia al titolo Cameron McAdoo che guadagnava un rigore, Lawrence ha preso il posto della tabella rossa, con un punto di margine. Altrettanto impressionante è stato il nuovo campione AMA Arenacross di Phoenix Racing Honda, Kyle Peters, che ha ottenuto un solido terzo posto, il suo primo podio nel supercross dal 2018.

Nella corsa 450SX, Ken Roczen ha messo insieme un podio. Lui e il compagno di squadra Chase Sexton hanno messo le loro macchine da corsa CRF450R al terzo e quarto al via e hanno corso gare relativamente tranquille, con Sexton che ha ceduto solo una posizione nelle ultime fasi della gara.

Ken Roczen 94
“Arlington 2 è stato molto meglio di Arlington 1. Abbiamo modificato un po ‘di cose alla moto, abbiamo apportato una modifica e l’abbiamo lasciata per tutta la gara di quali. E dopo la heat, ho deciso di tornare alla base e quello che sapevo, ed era sicuramente la strada giusta da percorrere. Nell’evento principale, siamo partiti vicino ai primi, e lì sono rimasto terzo. Sono stato un po ‘incasinato dai lapper(doppiati), e sfortunatamente non è stato abbastanza per vincere stasera. Ci siamo piazzati al terzo posto e abbiamo perso un po ‘più di punti in campionato, ma fintanto che continueremo a vivere il sogno, non vedo l’ora di riprenderci sabato prossimo. È stato bello tornare sul podio dopo un paio di round in cui non ci siamo stati. Sono orgoglioso della mia squadra e di come abbiamo lavorato insieme, e non vedo l’ora di un paio di giorni liberi e di tornare sabato “.

Sono state fatte domande a Roczen dopo l’evento, ma prendiamo la più significativa, lui ci crede e cerca di stare alla larga dalle shitstorm multimediali!

Kenny, mi chiedo se puoi dare un’idea di dove sei mentalmente, hai molta stampa nazionale e internazionale su di te, sono sicuro che ne sei consapevole. Mi chiedevo se puoi darci qualche idea in questa fase della serie in cui ti trovi mentalmente e se il focus è sulle impostazioni della moto al tuo livello o se è solo un test mentale a questo punto per vincere questo campionato?

Roczen: Onestamente cerco di stare alla larga da qualsiasi tipo di materiale multimediale il più possibile solo perché sto cercando di essere nel momento e di apprezzare quello che sto facendo, quindi onestamente sto solo cercando di mantenermi abbastanza tranquillo. Sapevo che all’inizio della stagione sarebbe stata una lunga stagione e ci saranno sempre alti e bassi e le ultime gare non sono state le migliori almeno per quanto riguarda i risultati, quindi onestamente sono ancora nella stessa mentalità di andare a correre e provare a godermi quello che faccio ad essere onesto. Questo è il momento in cui lavoro al meglio, se guardi davvero 12 punti non sono troppi, non vuoi mai metterti a tuo agio, come ha detto Cooper, tutto può succedere. Ovviamente all’inizio della stagione mi sono stati tolti dei punti e se potessi averli sarebbe ancora meno il divario. Continuerò a fare le stesse cose e mi metterò in una buona posizione con alcune partenze e vedrò se riusciamo a ottenere un paio di vittorie qua o là e vedere a che punto siamo alla fine della stagione. Nessuno ha mai detto che sarebbe stato facile, nessun campionato è facile, quindi onestamente sto solo cercando di essere stabile e rilassato, godermi quello che stiamo facendo, questa è la parte divertente della competizione.

Chase Sexton 23
“È stata una bella giornata. Le qualifiche sono state piuttosto nella media: sono arrivato sesto, il che per me andava bene, ma non ho fatto un buon giro. Nella heat sono partito bene, ho lottato per il comando verso la fine e ho quasi vinto . Ho avuto una buona scelta per il gate per l’evento principale, il che è stato positivo perché i solchi erano piuttosto incasinati dopo il cancello. Ho fatto una buona partenza nel main e mi sono messo in una buona posizione, ma non sono riuscito a mantenere il ritmo dopo nei giri. Non mi sentivo molto a mio agio e sono sbiadito un po ‘all’indietro. Ero un po ‘piatto ma ero ancora tra i primi cinque – non un ottimo risultato, ma continueremo a costruire. Non vedo l’ora di provare un po ‘giovedì e di tornare sabato. ”

Hunter Lawrence 41
“Giornata fantastica qui ad Arlington – non avrei potuto sognare di meglio! Sono partito bene, ho fatto dei bei sorpassi nei primi giri e ho corso la mia gara. Sono estremamente, estremamente grato e grato di fare ciò che sono in grado di fare. Non posso ringraziare abbastanza tutti quelli che mi supportano, tutti nel team e fuori pista. È uno sforzo di squadra e credere in me stesso e nell’uomo è incredibile. È fantastico e sono entusiasta di poterlo mettere sotto le nostre cinture al round 4. ”

 

ARLINGTON 2 SUPERCROSS 2021 – Results! VIDEO GARE!

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In just the sixth supercross race of his career, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence scored his first 250SX win in convincing fashion, at the Arlington 2 round. The young Australian started in fifth and quickly advanced a spot, then made a block pass for third. On lap six, he capitalized when the leading duo lost momentum, passing them both to put his CRF250R in the lead. At that point, Lawrence set sail, setting the fastest time of the race on the next lap and pulling ahead to score an emotional victory by over five seconds. With erstwhile title-chase leader Cameron McAdoo earning a penalty, Lawrence took over the red plate, by a one-point margin. Also impressive was Phoenix Racing Honda’s newly recrowned AMA Arenacross Champion Kyle Peters, who notched a solid third-place finish, his first supercross podium since 2018.

In 450SX racing, Ken Roczen put together a podium finish. He and teammate Chase Sexton put their CRF450R race machines in third and fourth off the start and rode relatively uneventful races, with Sexton relinquishing just one position in the latter stages of the race.

Ken Roczen 94

“Arlington 2 was a lot better than Arlington 1. We threw a little bit of something at the bike and made a change and left it in all the way through the heat race. And after the heat race, I decided to go back to base and what I knew, and that was definitely the right way to go. In the main event, we started near the front, and I just stuck in third there. I got messed up by lappers a little bit, and unfortunately it just wasn’t good enough for the win tonight. We settled on third and lost a little bit more points in the championship, but as long as we’re keeping the dream alive, I’m looking forward to bouncing back next Saturday. It felt good to be back on the podium after a couple rounds of not being there. I’m proud of my team and how we’ve been working together, and looking forward to a couple of days off and coming back on Saturday.”

Chase Sexton 23

“It was an okay day. Qualifying was pretty average–I got sixth, which was okay for me but I just didn’t get a really good lap in. In the heat race I got a good start, battled for the lead near the end and almost had the win. I had a good gate pick for the main event, which was good because the ruts were pretty messed up after the gate. I got a good start in the main and put myself in a good position, but I couldn’t keep the pace after six or seven laps. I didn’t feel super comfortable and faded backwards a bit. I was a little flat but was still top-five–not a great result, but we’ll keep building. I’m looking forward to testing a little bit on Thursday and coming back for Saturday.”

Hunter Lawrence 41

“Amazing day here in Arlington–couldn’t have dreamt it any better! I got off to a good start, made some good passes in the first few laps and just rode my race. I’m extremely, extremely grateful and thankful to do what I’m able to do. I can’t thank everyone that supports me enough–everyone in the team and away from the track. It’s a team effort and believing in myself and man, it feels amazing. It’s awesome, and I’m stoked that we could get this one under our belts at round 4.”

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“It was an amazing night for Hunter. Starting the beginning of the day, he had a few things to work on, and the team really worked hard behind them to get him comfortable and he came off with an amazing win. He’s getting stronger each week, and I can’t say enough–we’re just so proud of that. Chase rode strong all day and had good speed. He had a good start in the main event, and he continues to get stronger each week from his shoulder injury. He’s riding really well, and he can keep building on these experiences. Ken had a good practice session but struggled a little bit to get comfortable. The team did a good job with some changes later in the night, and he was comfortable for the main event. He pulled off another really good start and a solid podium spot. We’ll regroup and come back for Saturday.”

 
AMA Supercross 450SX 2021 
Race Round 11  
 

ARLINGTON 2 SUPERCROSS 2021 – Results! VIDEO GARE!

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KEN ROCZEN INTERWIEV!

Ken, we all know riders are emotional especially in the heat of the battle, looking back, do you regret the post race Daytona comments?

No, I said what I wanted to say. Of course fingers get pointed with how my races have been, but I knew no matter how I finished in these upcoming races, fingers would get pointed. I haven’t been on the podium lately, I have been trying some bike settings as well that haven’t really been working out that well. I went back to old faithful here in the main event today and that felt a lot better. I feel like I am done tinkering around with the bike too much, I’m just trying to always improve a little bit.

Ken, first night tonight without the red late, does the mentality change now going from the hunted to the hunter. What needs to change to turn this around to stop Cooper from getting so many points?

Obviously he’s on it right now. Realistically the only bad race was last weekend, points can turn around real quick. obviously he was winning and I was in like sixth or seventh or something like that but that was really my only bad race that I’ve had so far this year. We have still got six rounds to go as well and I just want to focus on myself. Of course it’s a nice little something to have on the bike but in the end is when it counts and I am keeping the dream alive, of course he is chipping away and winning a lot right now.

I just want to go out there and do what I love and see if I can get back closer at least so we can make it a good battle all the way to the end. I got a much better start tonight, obviously I wasn’t good enough tonight, but in general I have been having good starts besides last weekend. I think Daytona faked a little bit not being on the podium just by getting shuffled back, but I felt like I was strong and was riding decent at least and all the rounds before I was riding good. I’m just trying to keep my head up and keep chipping away, that’s all I can do on a weekly basis anyways. Luckily we have got some races to go and yeah, go back at it again on Saturday and try again.

Kenny I wonder if you can give some insight into where you are mentally, you get a lot of press nationally and internationally, I’m sure you are aware of that. I was wondering if you can give us some insight at this stage in the series of where you are mentally and if the focus is on bike settings at your level or if it’s just a mental test at this point for you to win this championship?

I honestly try to stay off of any kind of media stuff as much as I can just because I am trying to be in the moment and enjoy what I’m doing so I am honestly just trying to keep it pretty mellow. I knew coming into the season it was going to be a long season and there is always going to be ups and downs and the last few races haven’t been the greatest at least results wise, so I’m honestly still in the same mentality of going racing and trying to enjoy what I do to be honest. This is when I function the best, if you really look at it 12 points isn’t too much, you never want to get comfortable, like Cooper said, anything can happen.

Of course there were a couple of points taken away from me in the beginning of the season and if I could have those it would be even tighter. I just going to continue doing the same things and just put myself in good position with some starts and see if we can snag a couple of wins here or there and see where we are at at the end of the season. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, no championship comes easy so I am honestly just trying to be stable and be relaxed, enjoy what we are doing, that’s the fun part about competing.

I want to go back to Houston when you have the four points penalty and the issue with Dean Wilson costing you the win that being another three point swing. Do you feel that catching up with you or are you just trying to keep that behind you as much as possible?

It doesn’t matter at this point because it’s the past and it happened. But I feel like of course those are just valuable points. The whole Dean thing, that was a legit just a lapper (situation), and it didn’t work out in my favour. I still disagree with the AMA and them docking me four points that are of course valuable but what am I going to do about it now? The three Houston’s did me bad in that way a little bit but I didn’t want to focus on that and get so stuck on it and ruin a whole season to get hung up on all that. I have had the red plate for more rounds than honestly I’ve ever had in my life before so that’s pretty cool and I’m holding on to the positive. I am just continuing to chip away and look in the now and what’s ahead of me rather than focusing back there, it’s not going to do me any good.

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