During his recent hot streak, which includes two late-season Monster Energy Supercross wins and five of six moto wins in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, Ken Roczen has actually not gotten very good starts. Instead, he’s blown past dudes on the first lap to get the lead. At Lakewood, he finally got a good one in the first moto. “My day was great,” Roczen said in a Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s RCH team statement. “In the first moto, I got an awesome start, shifted a gear and my Suzuki pulled right up there. I was super-stoked to get the holeshot and I never looked back. I just rode a smooth race, had very minimal mistakes and collected a win.”
In the second moto, it wasn’t so easy. “We went into the second moto with a strong mentality. I wanted to get another good start and definitely win, which I didn’t get the good start. I actually kind of hooked a little bit with [Justin] Bogle and his elbow clutched my bike. It was pretty crazy. I tried to make some quick moves here and there but at the same time I didn’t try to rush because I knew we had some time to go. Overall, I can’t complain. Going 1-1 is a great thing and we’re going into an off weekend so I’m super happy about that. I think it comes at a perfect time because I 100 percent believe that I have another level in me. We have some tricks up our sleeve to get even better so I’m really excited about that.”
Roczen plans on getting better, but so did Ryan Dungey—until we found out Dungey is now out with a broken vertebrae, suffered in his second-moto crash. Great effort by Dungey to come from outside the top twenty to fourth with what turns out to be a broken bone in his back!
Dungey tried to track down Honda HRC’s Cole Seely in the second moto, but Seely held him at bay for his first 450MX podium in a moto and career-best fourth overall. “Today went really well,” said Seely in a team statement. “It felt good to finally get on the podium in the 450 class during motocross. I think I started outside the top 20 in the first moto, but I was able to fight my way up to sixth. I was fifth at one point but Eli [Tomac] got around me with two laps to go, so I settled for that. The first couple laps of the second moto were actually really fun. Both Trey and I started up front and had a good battle going. I got by him, taking over the lead for a little bit but Kenny [Roczen] and Eli got by me. Towards the end, I knew Dungey was coming; I could see him behind me out of the corner of my eye, so the last few laps of the race, I just put my head down and tried as hard as I could to maintain third. In the end it paid off. I feel like things are starting to click and I’m only going to continue to get stronger.”
Once Dungey bears down on a rider late in a race, you expect him to make the pass. Seely holding the champion off even surprised his mechanic, Rich Simmons. “He actually really surprised and impressed me at the end of the second moto because his lap times fell off a little bit, so I thought [Ryan] Dungey was going to catch him, but he dug deep, dropped his times back down and hung onto third,” said Simmons. “After first practice, we gave all the guys a more aggressive map to help make up for the lack of power at elevation, and as far as suspension goes we started Cole with the same setting we left Glen Helen with. Again, we softened it up for him going into the second moto, which helped when he started to get tired.”
Seely’s results were the mirror image of his teammate Trey Canard, who went 3- 6 to Seely’s 6-3. But Canard led the early stages of moto two, so he wasn’t happy to end up so far back. “I’m really disappointed with how today ended,” said Canard. “I should’ve been on the podium but couldn’t put it all together. There are positives to take away, but it’s still extremely frustrating because I had a good first moto and was running up front in the second. I’m continuing to get good starts, which is good, so hopefully that can continue and I’ll be able to start fighting up front with the leaders. The entire Team Honda HRC crew is working really hard and I’m happy with the bike, so I just need to regroup during the off weekend and come to High Point swinging.”
Believe it or not, Canard’s third-place finish in moto one marked his first trip to the podium this season, indoors or out.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Josh Grant continues to impress. He went 4-7 in his motos and was closer to the front than the previous two races, where he also rode well. “The weekend was really good,” said Grant. “I always like coming to Colorado, it’s one of my favorite places. The track, especially the ruts, were really gnarly this weekend and it made for some interesting racing. I’m happy with how I’ve been riding the last couple weeks and this weekend was more of the same. I made a few minor mistakes that held me back a bit but overall I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to the next one.” We’ll have more from Grant in an extended piece next week
Jason Anderson has been so solid on the Rockstar Energy Racing Husqvarna this year, but he took a huge points hit when altitude sickness got him in the first 450 moto (he was running third in the race at the time). Anderson also sat out of moto two, dropping him from fourth to seventh in the points.
Anderson’s teammate Christophe Pourcel is sill hurting with a literal pain in the neck. We talked to Christophe after the race and he made it clear the injury is still making it hard to ride and train—and there’s not much you can do as far as therapy for a chipped vertebrae. He simply hopes the neck gets better with time. “I keep improving every weekend,” said Pourcel in a team statement. “My speed was there this morning and everything is coming back. We’re going in the right direction."
Broc Tickle’s result at Hangtown was below par, so he’s back to what he usually does: slow, steady improvement. The Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/RCH Suzuki rider was eleventh overall with 14-9 scores in Colorado. “It was an improvement from last week,” offered Tickle in a team press release. “All in all I’m looking forward to the break. I think I need to work on a little bit of speed. First moto, I got a good start, finally, but I crashed and couldn’t do anything with it. Obviously, that was a bummer. Second moto, the track was beat up. It was rough and if I had a little more speed I feel like I could have gotten some of those guys in front of me at the end because I feel like I was flowing and feeling good. I’m looking forward to the week off and gain some more momentum next week.”
GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle logged a career-best moto result, finishing seventh in moto one en route to 10th overall. “The day was good,” he said. “The first moto was really good—didn’t get the best start but came through and ended up seventh. That’s the best moto so far this year. We’re making progress and getting closer to where I think I should be. The second moto was rough; [a previous injury to] my hand split back open so I had trouble hanging on but still finished 13th and top-ten for the day.”
Lap Times
450 Class Moto 1
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 1 | 2:10.649 | 3 | 2:12.630 | Ken Roczen |
2 | 2 | 2:11.521 | 9 | 2:12.783 | Ryan Dungey |
3 | 3 | 2:11.807 | 10 | 2:14.996 | Trey Canard |
4 | 4 | 2:12.526 | 8 | 2:15.014 | Josh Grant |
5 | 35 | 2:13.190 | 4 | 2:16.639 | Jason Anderson |
6 | 6 | 2:13.691 | 10 | 2:15.756 | Cole Seely |
7 | 5 | 2:13.750 | 8/12 | 2:15.243 | Eli Tomac |
8 | 11 | 2:13.951 | 10 | 2:17.543 | Justin Barcia |
9 | 8 | 2:14.339 | 8 | 2:16.936 | Christophe Pourcel |
10 | 13 | 2:14.490 | 12 | 2:16.369 | Justin Bogle |
450 Class Moto 2
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 2 | 2:11.230 | 7 | 2:12.914 | Eli Tomac |
2 | 1 | 2:11.376 | 4 | 2:12.670 | Ken Roczen |
3 | 4 | 2:12.665 | 5 | 2:14.854 | Ryan Dungey |
4 | 3 | 2:13.172 | 5 | 2:15.201 | Cole Seely |
5 | 8 | 2:13.338 | 6 | 2:16.091 | Justin Barcia |
6 | 7 | 2:14.033 | 7 | 2:16.087 | Josh Grant |
7 | 5 | 2:14.077 | 9 | 2:15.351 | Marvin Musquin |
8 | 9 | 2:14.339 | 8 | 2:16.898 | Broc Tickle |
9 | 6 | 2:14.425 | 5 | 2:16.218 | Trey Canard |
10 | 10 | 2:15.969 | 5 | 2:17.743 | Matt Bisceglia |
Roczen was fastest in moto one, that's no surprise. But there's a sign of life here for Eli Tomac, who finally matched Roczen's pace in this second moto, albeit from way, way back. Last week Tomac looked good in moto two but his laps were still no match for Roczen, so this is a sign of progress. Then again, Roczen might not have been pushing while leading on a track known for biting riders at any time. Hey, if you're Tomac (who might be the last title contender left for Roczen now that Dungey is out) you'll take it.
250 Class Moto 1
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 2 | 2:12.506 | 9 | 2:15.143 | Joey Savatgy |
2 | 1 | 2:12.818 | 7 | 2:15.146 | Jeremy Martin |
3 | 14 | 2:13.848 | 2 | 2:18.628 | Aaron Plessinger |
4 | 4 | 2:13.908 | 5 | 2:16.898 | Zach Osborne |
5 | 8 | 2:14.096 | 13 | 2:15.320 | Alex Martin |
6 | 3 | 2:14.141 | 15 | 2:15.644 | Cooper Webb |
7 | 5 | 2:14.160 | 5 | 2:17.180 | Jordon Smith |
8 | 12 | 2:14.832 | 7 | 2:18.081 | Shane McElrath |
9 | 10 | 2:14.862 | 6 | 2:17.707 | RJ Hampshire |
10 | 11 | 2:14.967 | 2 | 2:18.046 | Mitchell Harrison |
250 Class Moto 2
Lap Rank | Finish | Best Lap | In Lap | Avg Lap Time | Rider |
1 | 1 | 2:12.099 | 14 | 2:13.754 | Joey Savatgy |
2 | 2 | 2:12.542 | 13 | 2:13.488 | Alex Martin |
3 | 5 | 2:13.171 | 6 | 2:15.819 | Martin Davalos |
4 | 3 | 2:13.328 | 7 | 2:15.336 | Jeremy Martin |
5 | 6 | 2:13.625 | 12 | 2:15.534 | Zach Osborne |
6 | 38 | 2:13.809 | 3 | 2:14.607 | Adam Cianciarulo |
7 | 4 | 2:13.991 | 14 | 2:15.373 | Austin Forkner |
8 | 9 | 2:14.157 | 5 | 2:16.459 | Arnaud Tonus |
9 | 14 | 2:14.445 | 6 | 2:18.412 | RJ Hampshire |
10 | 10 | 2:14.722 | 8 | 2:15.975 | Aaron Plessinger |
What's interesting is that when Savatgy went 1-1 at Hangtown, you would have been positive he had the fastest laps. He actually had the second and eighth (!) fastest time in those two winning motos. Meanwhile at Lakewood you could assume Alex Martin had the top times for his charges through the pack, and even catching Savatgy late in moto two. But this time Savatgy was the fastest in both. Also, look at how late Savatgy tuned in those fast laps (lap 14 here in moto two). Dude is strong!
What's even funnier is that his coach, Jeannie Carmichael (Ricky's mother) still isn't satisfied. "Not happy at all, you’d be surprised," Savatgy said post race. "We’ve been working a lot on motos and trying to get the fast laps in early and trying to break away. I already got a text from her and she’s not happy I got caught."
In 250 Moto 1, on lap 12 of 16, Alex Martin was in 16th place. Over the last four laps, he passed eight riders and finished eighth, a remarkable surge you don’t often see late in the race when the pack gets spread out. How did he do it?
Lap 13: Passed Jessy Nelson and Kyle Peters
Lap 14: Passed Aaron Plessinger, RJ Hampshire and Colt Nichols
Lap 15: Passed Shane McElrath and Mitchell Harrison
Lap 16: Passed Mitch Oldenburg
To further illustrate his speed, we’ll compare his times over the final four laps to the last rider he passed, Oldenburg. AMart was running in the 2:14-2:15 range, Oldenburg in the 2:17-2:18 range. In the final four laps, Martin made up 3.7, 4.5, 3.2, and 3.8 seconds on Oldenburg. That’s a total of 15.2 seconds on the last four laps while simultaneously passing seven other riders. AMart lost his points lead, but he certainly rode well.
250 News and Notes
The results look like a letdown for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner, who was in the podium hunt last week at Glen Helen, but don’t let the results fool you, as the rookie was plenty fast here. His 17-4 scores were the result of a crash. “The first moto I had a good start,” said Forkner in a team statement. “Unfortunately the track was really slick in one particular corner and I tucked the front. When I remounted three other riders hit me, one after the other. By the time I finally rejoined the race I was nearly last and spent the whole moto climbing my way back up and finished 17th. In the second moto I had another good start and around halfway I started to feel really good. I passed my way into fifth and continued to push forward. I gave it my all for the second half and on the last lap I made another pass crossed the line fourth and ninth overall.”
Bummer for Forkner’s teammate Adam Cianciarulo, who looked on the verge of a break through weekend. After another bad start in moto one, he caught fire late in the race and logged a season-best sixth. Seizing on that momentum, he holeshot moto two (uphill, at altitude, so call off the worries about AC being too heavy for the 250s now) and ran second behind teammate Savatgy for a while. Then he crashed and his bike was too bent to continue—luckily Adam got away uninjured, though.
Hey, don’t look now, but Arnaud Tonus logged by far his best race of the season with ninth in the second moto. Is he about to get this train moving?
It’s pretty much been a Yamaha and Kawasaki show so far in the 250s, with Zach Osborne very often the next in line. That was the case again here as he logged a solid fourth overall. Osborne told us after practice that he was taking the inside gate no matter what and hoping everyone went wide. Sure enough, that’s exactly what he did, and it worked. “I got off to a decent start in the first moto,” said Osborne in a team statement. “I was sixth or seventh and worked my way into fourth. I tightened up a little bit and didn’t ride that great toward the end of the moto but hung on for fourth. In the second moto I got tangled up with someone at the start and almost got dragged down but I came back to sixth. It was a good moto and I was passing people the whole time. It was a good weekend—I felt really good. I feel like I had great speed today and I could have done some damage in the second moto. I’ll take my time with this week off and see what I can do at the next race at high point."
Meanwhile, look at this: Martin Davalos was a strong sixth overall! That’s his best outdoor finish since he finished sixth at Hangtown in 2012. “I got great starts this weekend,” said Davalos. “I was able to put in a good first moto and a solid second moto. I got a good start the second moto. I was second then third for a while but I ran out of energy a bit. I’m excited to take a weekend off in Florida and get recharged."
Oh, you already know the story with GEICO Honda’s Jordon Smith. He showed good speed but ended up having one good moto and one bad. His 5-12 scores gave him seventh overall. “I had a pretty good weekend. I like the track here in Colorado and my bike was good today,” said Smith in a team statement. “I got off to a good start in the first moto and was running up front pressuring the leaders for the first few laps. I ended up getting a little arm pump around half way and dropped back to fifth. Second moto I had a decent top 10 start and ended up falling on the first lap. I fell pretty far back, not exactly sure what place I was in but put my head down and charged back to twelfth in the moto for a seventh overall. Definitely need to put two motos together for the rest of the season. I know that's what I need to work on so I'm going to try to put in a lot of work during this week off and be as ready as I can be for High Point.”