US Supercross: Roczen 2nd in Lites West; Dungey 6th in 450
OutdoorHub 01.20.13
German teenager and Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen had another great weekend in Rd. 3 of the SX Lites West on Saturday night in the competition’s second visit to Anaheim when he again finished second overall in the 250SX class at Angel Stadium. Roczen is currently second overall in the points.
Roczen was second out of the gate in the start of the second 250SX heat and a couple of corners into the lap had taken over the lead. He went on to lead all six laps of the heat to claim his third consecutive heat race win of the season.
The young German also got away well in the main event and was second at the first corner. He hung on to the wheel of leader Cole Seely for the first half of the race but in lap nine made a mistake and allowed Eli Tomac to overtake. Two laps later, Roczen was able to reel in Cole Seely to regain his second position then maintained his pace to carry it right through to the finish.
Roczen said after the race that he was happy to finish second considering he had crashed hard in practice early in the day. “I am a bit banged up but I feel better knowing that I am riding stronger each week. I was able to get another podium finish and my third heat win. I hope to continue to make progress over the next week to work toward a win.”
Rough weekend for Dungey
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ryan Dungey had a rough weekend and a crash in his 450 heat compounded his problems in the main event.
Dungey raced in the first of the 450SX heats but he had a poor start and was sitting mid-pack around the first lap. He quickly advanced toward the top five and was battling for fifth when he crashed with Jake Weimer at the halfway point. Dungey scrambled back into eleventh place and moved up two positions and take the final transfer spot to the main event.
The KTM rider’s problems on the start continued in the 450SX main event. He was buried in midfield when the bikes left the gates but had advanced to tenth place in the second lap. He continued to push and had moved up the order to seventh by lap six before slipping past Andrew Short into sixth place with five laps to go. He then began to reel in fifth place rider Jake Weimer but ran out of time and had to settle for sixth.
Dungey said he had put in his best efforts but an outside gate pit had made it difficult to get into the top rider mix at the start of the main. “I am bummed about not finishing on the podium, but I will do everything I can this next week to change the results for the positive in Oakland.”
