Roczen Earns Career Best Finish at Salt Lake City Supercross‏

Roczen
Earns 2^nd
at Salt Lake City Supercross

Red
Bull/KTM’s German sensation, Ken Roczen, earned his career best
Supercross Lites finish and his second podium of the season with a
2^nd
place result at the penultimate round of the West Supercross Lites
Series held in Salt Lake City, UT.

Roczen,
who celebrated his seventeenth birthday the day before the race,
collected the best gift he could hope for – a season best finish.
Roczen started the day well turning lap times within the top five in
practice which led to a great gate pick in his heat.

When the
gate dropped for the first Lites heat it was Roczen’s orange
machine at the front of the pack. After pulling the holeshot, Roczen
was passed by Tomac and dropped to 2^nd.
“I made a few mistakes in the heat race. I was still trying to
adjust to the track and was glad to take away 2^nd,”
remarked Roczen.

In the
main event, Roczen got off to another decent start rounding the first
corner in 6^th
position. Josh Hansen fell while attempting a block pass on Eli Tomac
and handed Roczen 5^th
position. Still on the opening lap, Roczen passed Broc Tickle and
moved into 4^th.
He spent the next half of the race working his way into 2^nd.
Once in 2^nd
position, he held tight and fought his way to earn the runner-up spot
on the podium.

“I am
very excited to top my best finish in my first race back,” stated
Roczen. “The time change is always difficult for me when I come
back from Europe and I felt a little tired tonight and was glad to
put a decent race together with such short time back in the U.S.”

Roczen
wasn’t the only Red Bull/KTM rider to put in a decent night. His
Supercross teammate Andrew Short had a great night finishing 4^th
overall. Short looked solid from the first practice all the way to
the final checkered flag.

Short
started the main event in 8^th
place and worked his way up throughout the twenty lap main. He never
gave up a position, only took them away from others as he climbed his
way through the pack. By the end of the race Short had moved into a
remarkable 4^th
place position.

“The
past two weeks we have seen tremendous improvement in Short’s
riding. He has stepped up his practice times and remained consistent
in the races. We are very proud of the progress he has made – he
earned every position tonight,” commented Red Bull/KTM Team
Coordinator Casey Lytle.

Short’s
teammate, Mike Alessi, was not as fortunate in the main event. Alessi
had a bad crash in the beginning of the race when he came together
with Chris Blose. He was slow to get up and once recovered, tried to
ride for a few more laps. Unfortunately, he did not feel well enough
to finish the race and he pulled off and returned to the pits for
further evaluation.

The next
event for the Red Bull/KTM Team is the season finale next weekend in
Las Vegas, NV.

Overall
Results Supercross Class -

1. Ryan
   Villopoto
   

   
   

2. Chad
   Reed

   
   

3. Ryan
   Dungey

   
   

4. Andrew
   Short – KTM
   

   
   

5. Davi
   Millsaps

   
   

6. Kevin
   Windham
   

   
   

7. Jake
   Weimer
   

   
   

8. Thomas
   Hahn

   
   

9. Justin
   Brayton
   

   
   

10. James
    Stewart
    

    
    

11. Nick
    Wey

    
    

12. Kyle
    Regal
    

    
    

13. Michael
    Byrne

    
    

14. Chris
    Blose

    
    

15. Tyler
    Bowers

    
    

16. Jason
    Thomas
    

    
    

17. Robert
    Kiniry
    

    
    

18. Cole
    Siebler
    

    
    

19. Ben
    Lamay
    

    
    

20. Mike
    Alessi – KTM
    

    
    

Overall
Points Supercross Class –

1. Eli
   Tomac

   
   

2. Ken
   Roczen – KTM
   

   
   

3. Broc
   Tickle
   

   
   

4. Cole
   Seely
   

   
   

5. Kyle
   Cunningham
   

   
   

6. Tyla
   Rattray

   
   

7. Ryan
   Morais
   

   
   

8. Martin
   Davalos
   

   
   

9. Travis
   Baker
   

   
   

10. Ben
    Evans
    

    
    

11. Tommy
    Weeck
    

    
    

12. Jake
    Canada
    

    
    

13. Josh
    Hansen

    
    

14. Topher
    Ingalls
    

    
    

15. Bruce
    Rutherford

    
    

16. Casey
    Hinson
    

    
    

17. Donald
    Vawser

    
    

18. Landen
    Powell
    

    
    

19. Tevin
    Tapia – KTM
    

    
    

20. Nick
    Paluzzi
    

    
    

Overall
Point Standings Supercross Class –

1. Ryan
   Villopoto – 318
   

   
   

2. Chad
   Reed – 309
   

   
   

3. Ryan
   Dungey – 306
   

   
   

4. James
   Stewart – 295
   

   
   

5. Trey
   Canard – 255
   

   
   

6. Andrew
   Short – 214
   

   
   

7. Kevin
   Windham – 202
   

   
   

8. Davi
   Millsaps – 172
   

   
   

9. Justin
   Brayton – 153
   

   
   

10. Nick
    Wey – 139
    

    
    

Overall
Point Standings Supercross Lites Class –

1. Broc
   Trickle – 165
   

   
   

2. Eli
   Tomac – 163

   
   

3. Josh
   Hansen – 151
   

   
   

4. Cole
   Seely – 131
   

   
   

5. Ryan
   Morais – 124
   

   
   

6. Tyla
   Rattray – 111

   
   

7. Ken
   Roczen – 105
   

   
   

8. Kyle
   Cunningham – 105
   

   
   

9. Martin
   Davalos – 95
   

   
   

10. Ben
    Evans – 68