Roczen Sweeps Both Motos at Hangtown to Earn First Career 450 Class Victory
OutdoorHub 06.02.14
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen swept both motos at the Hangtown Classic, the second round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series. He was joined on the podium by his Red Bull KTM teammate, Ryan Dungey, who went 2-2 for the day.
Red plate holder Dungey nailed the holeshot at the start of moto one but Roczen made the pass for the lead on the opening lap. The two teammates pulled away from the pack as the race continued and Roczen crossed the line with a comfortable lead 8-second over Dungey to take his first career 450 class moto win.
“I felt really good in the first moto,” stated Roczen. “I had a great start and was able to put together a solid moto. Riding mistake-free was key and I was able to do that to take my first win.”
Both riders launched off the line to top five starts in the second moto with Roczen sitting fourth around the first corner while Dungey in fifth. Roczen began to pressure Justin Barcia and Brett Metcalfe for the front two spots some 10 minutes into the race. He then quickly moved around Barcia on a downhill section into a right-hand corner to move up to second and reeled in Metcalfe in the next lap. Once in the lead the German teenager never looked back and went on to take his second win of the day for a complete two-moto sweep.
Dungey followed Roczen and made the critical passes on both Barcia and Metcalfe shortly after Roczen moved into the lead but was unable to close the gap on Roczen up front. Roczen and Dungey are 1-2 in the points as Roczen takes over the red plate for round three.
Musquin earns seventh in 250-class at Hangtown
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Marvin Musquin consolidated his return to racing after a long injury pause by taking seventh place in the 250 Motocross class at Hangtown
The French rider got a decent jump off the line in the first moto and was in fourth place in the opening lap when the third placed rider crashed leaving him no-where to go and Musquin also hit the dirt. He rebounded back in eighteenth place and set to work to move up the order, managing to overtake nine riders to finish ninth overall.
Musquin’s start in the second moto saw him back at tenth at the first corner. He quickly picked up two positions but then crashed a few laps into the race. He again recovered quickly but had a lot of work to do to move back into the top ten. He was seventh at the drop of the flag and his 9-7 results earned him seventh overall, trailing KTM rider Jason Anderson by one place.
“I am still having a little bit of trouble with my knee but it will improve the more I train and race during the week. I am happy to have an improvement on my results from the last week and hope to be closer to the top five in Thunder Valley,” stated Musquin.
Next Round: Thunder Valley – Lakewood, CO – June 7, 2014
450-class Overall Results
1, Ken Roczen, KTM 1-1
2, Ryan Dungey, KTM 2-2
3, Trey Canard 3-4
4, James Stewart 5-3
5, Justin Barcia 4-5
Other KTM
11, Andrew Short, KTM 14-10
12, Fredrik Noren, KTM 12-13
14, Sean Collier KTM, 15-16
20, PJ Larsen, KTM 16-24
450-class Overall Point Standings
1, Ken Roczen – 94
2, Ryan Dungey – 89
3, Trey Canard – 72
250-class Overall Results
1, Jeremy Martin 1-1
2, Cooper Webb 2-2
3, Christophe Pourcel 8-3
4, Justin Hill – 4-6
5, Jessy Nelson – 7-5
6, Jason Anderson, KTM 10-4
7, Marvin Musquin, KTM 9-7
250-class Overall Point Standings
1, Jeremy Martin – 100
2, Cooper Webb – 88
3, Christophe Pourcel – 63
4, Jessy Nelson – 51
5, Marvin Musquin – 50
