Ken Roczen scorched the field at Thunder Valley and earned his third overall victory in as many races. At the same time, the RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing rider went 1-1 for the second time in three weeks and extended his points lead to 12 over defending Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey.
In the season’s opening three rounds, Roczen has been just shy of perfect, having won five of the first six motos of the year. “My day was great,” Roczen said following his eighth career Pro Motocross win. “In the first moto, I got an awesome start, shifted a gear and my Suzuki pulled right up there. I was super-stoked to get the holeshot and I never looked back. I just rode a smooth race, had very minimal mistakes and collected a win.
“We went into the second moto with a strong mentality. I wanted to get another good start and definitely win, which I didn’t get the good start. I actually kind of hooked a little bit with [Justin] Bogle and his elbow clutched my bike. It was pretty crazy. I tried to make some quick moves here and there but at the same time I didn’t try to rush because I knew we had some time to go.
“Overall, I can’t complain. Going 1-1 is a great thing and we’re going into an off weekend so I’m super happy about that. I think it comes at a perfect time because I 100 per cent believe that I have another level in me. We have some tricks up our sleeve to get even better so I’m really excited about that.”
Roczen’s RCH team-mate Broc Tickle finished 11th overall after finishing 14th in the first moto and ninth in the second. The solid showing also propelled the Holly, Mich., rider from 11th to 10th in points heading into the first off weekend of the 2016 outdoor season.
“It was an improvement from last week,” offered Tickle. “All in all I’m looking forward to the break. I think I need to work on a little bit of speed. First moto, I got a good start, finally, but I crashed and couldn’t do anything with it. Obviously, that was a bummer.
“Second moto, the track was beat up. It was rough and if I had a little more speed I feel like I could have gotten some of those guys in front of me at the end because I feel like I was flowing and feeling good. I’m looking forward to the week off and gain some more momentum next week.”
The riders and teams of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will enjoy a rare off weekend before the series heads to the east coast next week.
