Team Honda HRC’s #KenRoczen posted a fifth-place result at the #amasupercross series’ 14th round, held at #saltlakecity, Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. After suffering from health issues during the last two rounds, the German enjoyed a great start in the 450SX main #Event, grabbing the holeshot and completing lap one in second place. He briefly assumed the lead on lap seven, and then after a minor slip-up, his momentum dropped and he slipped a few positions. Lap 20 saw him drop to fifth, where he remained until the finish. The result relegated Roczen to third place in the series standings, a mere two points behind second.
Roczen’s teammate Justin Brayton, who had suffered from stomach issues throughout the day, wasn’t able to ride to his potential in the 450SX main #Event, finishing 12th. Brayton enjoyed a decent start, completing lap one in sixth place, but he lost momentum and slid to 11th by the midway point of the 26-lap race. Struggling to feel comfortable on the track, Brayton Eventually fell to 13th, but he regained a spot in the late going.
Three Events remain in the series, all at the same venue, with round 15 taking place on Sunday and the last two following in quick succession.
NOTES
Ken Roczen 94
“Coming back after two days of trying to get everything lined up again following a tough race, I had a lot more fight and felt a lot better today. I had a good heat race and was able to put up a fight at least for some of the race. I’m not 100% yet obviously, because two days unfortunately is just not enough to get everything lined up, but it was much better than the last race. We’re going to just continue fighting because this stuff is out of our hands and we have the speed and good starts and everything. We have to get my body right and I think we can be on the top step much more consistently.”
Justin Brayton 10
“It was my roughest one yet. I’m not really sure what went on, but today was just kind of a struggle most of the day. The best thing about this format is that we race again in a few days, so I’m going to try and forget about that one. Overall, I honestly can’t really pinpoint anything other than kind of a stomach bug for most of the day; I didn’t have the energy I needed for that main #Event. Definitely a bummer, but it’s all good and we’ll come back fighting in a few days.”
Erik Kehoe
Team Manager
“Overall a much better day for Ken. In the main #Event he had a really good start; he was right there in the corner for the lead and battled for that lead for over half the race. He hung on a lot better than last week. There was big improvement, so I think this is something to build on. Justin unfortunately had a rough night. He was sixth on the start for the first lap, then got banged around a little bit. He struggled to get comfortable after that and rode tight. Now we get to regroup for another couple days and then come back at it.”
Jordan Troxell
Mechanic (Ken Roczen)
“As a whole, today was a decent turnaround from Sunday for Ken. He was able to have a really good heat race with Cooper [Webb], good qualifying, and even in the main #Event he had a lot more fight in him and was able to go quite a bit harder than Sunday. Ultimately, it’s not the final result that we wanted, but definitely a step in the right direction with only two days’ time for recovery. I’m proud of him. Hopefully we’ll get one of these before it’s over.”
Brent Duffe
Mechanic (Justin Brayton)
“Today was a weird day. Justin started off really comfortable and fast in the first practice, but the comfort level went away and he never really rode like himself. We tried a couple different settings, but unfortunately he just couldn’t come around. It’s easy to get upset over something like this, but since race days like this are pretty rare, I’m just going to give him a free pass and clear our head and move onto the next one.”
© Copyright 2024