Mixed
Fortunes for Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen in SX Lites Class
Phoenix,
AZ – Red Bull/KTM Factory Team rider Ken Roczen showed he had the
speed to run up front for the second weekend in a row at round two of
the AMA Supercross Lites Series but a string of crashes kept him from
finishing on the box.
Roczen
turned in the fastest lap time in the first morning qualifying
session and followed up with the second fastest time in the final
practice session. His impressive lap times earned him the top
qualifying spot in Lites heat #1.
Roczen
garnered a 10th
place start at the beginning of his heat and began to put on a
charge. By lap two he was sitting in 7th
when he took the inside line on an outside triple that ended his
race. He got massive air as he attempted the triple, casing the far
end of the jump and eventually bouncing off track and to the ground.
He returned to his bike but had bruised his heel and decided to
return to the truck to get himself and his bike checked out before
attempting the LCQ.
The
German rider took an easy win in the LCQ after grabbing the holeshot
and leading all four laps. “I did not want to have to qualify to
the main through the LCQ but if that is how it goes, I am happy to
get the win and the spot in the main event,” remarked Roczen.
Roczen
showed his hard work practicing starts last week paid off when he
rounded the first turn of the main event in 4th
position. He held the position until he made a mistake sliding to the
outside of the turn after the finish line jump on lap three allowing
Martin Davalos to pass by. The next few laps Roczen began to reel in
Ryan Morais. As Roczen closed in on Morais, Kyle Cunningham had moved
up behind Roczen and soon the Phoenix crowd was witnessing a
three-way battle for 4th
position.
This
battle went on for approximately three laps before disaster struck
for Roczen. On lap seven, Roczen was coming through the sand section
underneath the bridge trying to gain on Morais when he tried to cut
into a different line and accidentally clipped a hay bale. This
caused him to swap out and sent him over the bars. Cunningham was so
close to Roczen that he got tangled with him and both riders went to
the ground. Roczen was not able to return to the race and was forced
to take a DNF for the night.
Roczen
remarked, “I am definitely feeling disappointed. I felt like I had
put myself in the right spot to be on the podium tonight and I am
upset that I crashed and could not finish. I hit my head a little and
felt dizzy and that is why I pulled off. The doctors say I should be
fine to race for next weekend. So I will keep trying to work toward
my goal of landing on the podium.”
Next
Event: Los Angeles, CA –
January 22, 2011
Overall
Results –
Josh
HansenBroc
TickleRyan
MoraisCole
SeelyEli
TomacTyla
RattrayJames
DecotisTravis
BakerMartin
DavalosKyle
CunninghamJake
CanadaBen
EvansBruce
RutherfordAntonio
BalbiNick
PaluzziCasey
Hinson – KTMRyan
Marmont – KTMScott
ChampionKen
Roczen – KTMChristian
Craig
Overall
Point Standings –
Josh
Hansen – 50Broc
Tickle – 44Ryan
Morais – 35Tyla
Rattray – 35Cole
Seely – 34Martin
Davalos – 30Eli
Tomac – 27Travis
Baker – 26Kyle
Cunningham – 19Nick
Paluzzi – 18Ben
Evans – 18Antonio
Balbi – 17Ken
Roczen – 16James
Decotis – 14Bruce
Rutherford – 13