Roczen Races to Second Place at Latvian MX2

Team Suzuki Press Office - June 27.

After his impressive moto victory at Teutschenthal in Germany last weekend, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2's Ken Roczen was so close to another win in a thrilling spectacle at the bumpy and shallow sand of Kegums for the Grand Prix of Latvia and the ninth round of 15 in the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Watched by 17,000 captivated spectators, the flamboyant Roczen was his usual fearless self across a rippled and physically difficult terrain and the RM-Z250 coped admirably. He pursued and overtook Jeffrey Herlings for second place in the first moto and then heroically sought the rear wheel of leader Marvin Musquin in the final two laps after closing down a sizeable gap. The duel, seen already between the two protagonists several times this season, ended with a division of seven-10ths-of-a-second; Roczen just unable to edge past the Frenchman.

The 16 year old was part of a tense three-rider chase in the second moto with Steve Frossard and Herlings involving several place changes and the trio split by no more than two seconds for the entire race distance. Despite his best efforts to seize control from Herlings and snare the moto win that would have delivered his first overall success of the season, Roczen was ultimately undone by a mistake on the final lap before the wave section that cost him drive and bike lengths to the rear wheel of Frossard. His scorecard for the day was 2-3 for second overall and his sixth trophy of 2010.

Arnaud Tonus had a reasonable day with ninth overall. The Swiss endured a tough Saturday in which arm-pump and two small falls in the Qualification Heat did not increase his feeling of optimism. However he improved his performance and revised his strategy for the races: In the first moto a mediocre start did not help his progress but a charge through to the lower part of the top-10 was admirable until being scuppered on the last lap when an electrical problem ended his participation. Due to his close proximity to the chequered flag Tonus still picked up nine points for 12th. An excellent start near the top five in the second race delivered a positive 35 minutes and 2 laps and he placed eighth.

Roczen now stares at a 74 point gap to World Champion Musquin in the standings while Tonus is seventh and 10 points from sixth. Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2 now faces the Grand Prix of Sweden at the well-established and organised Uddevalla circuit next weekend.

Ken Roczen:

"I don't think the track was as good as last year's because it was so difficult. In the first moto I came back strong on Marvin's rear wheel and tried as hard as I could to win. I made a mistake by not looking at the pit-board and wasn't really aware of how much time I had left. I was quite pleased with second however and was confident going into the second moto. We had a really good race together. There were some parts of the track where I did not have the right lines and I made a mistake before the waves so Steven came past me. I didn't win but I am keeping my head up for next weekend."

Arnaud Tonus:

"I had two consistent races. The start was bad in the first moto so I had to push hard in the beginning and then got a bit tired in the middle but fought with Paulin at the end until the bike stopped. It was quite weird to still take 12th and nine points! In the second race I think I had my best start of the year! I passed a few riders but mainly rode safe and wanted to not make any mistakes because the conditions were hard for everyone; there were some really sharp bumps out there and the track was a mix of hard-pack and sand so it was hard to judge a good rhythm and keep it."

MX2 Moto1: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 40:02.269; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzzzuki Europe World MX2), +0:00.701; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:10.349; 4. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.455; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:53.511; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:08.966; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:21.629; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:42.337; 9. Valentin Teillet (FRA, KTM), +1:43.915; 10. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:52.417. 12. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), -1 lap(s).

MX2 Moto2: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:22.107; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.998; 3. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), +0:05.224; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:39.306; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:48.873; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:50.140; 7. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:53.176; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), +1:06.550; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +1:11.730; 10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:21.620.

MX2 Overall Result: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 45 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 42 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 40 p.; 4. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 39 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 24 p.; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 23 p.; 9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 22 p.; 10. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 21 p.

MX2 World Championship standings (after 9 of 15 rounds): 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 404 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 330 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 308 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 286 p.; 5. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 249 p.; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 246 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Teka Suzuki Europe World MX2), 236 p.; 8. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 214 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 209 p.; 10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 182 p.