Roczen Keeps it Interesting at Indianapolis Supercross

Indianapolis,
IN – Red Bull/KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen had the best and worst night
of his season after leading the AMA Supercross Lites main event at
Lucas Oil Stadium through the first half of the race before a big crash
cost him the win.

Roczen had a great qualifying time in
the morning practice sessions to earn first gate pick for heat number
one. He got off to a 5th place start and quickly went to work cutting
through the field into the front of the pack. By the start of the second
lap he was 3rd and a few turns later he had moved into 2nd behind
Darryn Durham. Roczen quickly reeled Durham in and the two swapped the
lead on the final lap with Durham just edging out Roczen for the win.

In
the main event, Roczen finally received the start he needed as he
pulled the holeshot around the first corner. He battled with Blake
Baggett for the first two laps before making the pass for the lead
stick. He quickly stretched out his lead and had a 1.3 second gap over
Baggett by the fifth lap. Unfortunately, it was on the fifth lap that
the AMA officials put out the red flag instructing all riders to return
to the start line.

The official AMA rulebook states that
if the race is red flagged after 3 laps then the riders will start in a
staggered fashion based on the running order they crossed the finish
line in on the lap prior to the red flag. Since Roczen was in the lead
at the time, he was able to start in the front of the staggered line.
Although the AMA rule for the staggered start has been in place for
quite some time it is the first time in professional racing history that
they have used it.

At the wave of the green flag,
Roczen launched off the line and quickly pulled out front to gain back
the lead he had. Two laps into the restart, Roczen made a small mistake
coming around a corner and crashed. His bike was damaged in the crash
and he had to return to the mechanics area for a quick fix before
returning to the track. He reentered the race over a lap down and
despite turning fast lap times throughout the duration of the race he
finished 19th.

After the race Roczen commented, “I’m not
sure what to say about tonight. It was a crazy night. I haven’t crashed
in a main event all season and I am really bummed that my only main
event crash came while I was leading. I know I am riding well right now
so I will just regroup and hope to get my first season win in Toronto.”

Next Race: Toronto Supercross – March 24, 2012

Overall Results SX Lites Class –

1. Blake Wharton

2. Darryn Durham

3. Justin Barcia

4. Blake Baggett

5. Jake Canada

6. Justin Bogle

7. Matt Lemoine

8. Tyler Bowers

9. Les Smith – KTM

10. Shawn Rife

11. Angelo Pellegrini

12. Kyle Peters

13. Shane Sewell – KTM

14. PJ Larsen – KTM

15. Alex Martin

16. Tommy Weeck

17. Kelly Smith – KTM

18. Brad Ripple

19. Ken Roczen – KTM

20. Kyle Cummingham

Overall Point Standings SX Lites Class –

1. Justin Barcia – 120

2. Darryn Durham – 98

3. Blake Wharton – 97

4. Blake Baggett – 80

5. Ken Roczen – 80