Roczen Podiums to Reclaim Red Plate at Anaheim2
OutdoorHub 01.20.14
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen of Germany had a good night out in the third round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series to finish in third in the 450 SX class to reclaim the red plate. Factory teammate Ryan Dungey fought back to salvage sixth place after rebounding from a mid-race crash.
Roczen had the top time in the early afternoon qualifiers and continued to show his good form to finish his heat second place for an easy transfer to the main. Dungey had a decent jump in his heat but got pushed out as the riders rounded the first corner. He then picked off riders to move into fourth to pick up the final transfer spot into the main.
Roczen and Dungey lined up together for the main but it was Dungey who grabbed the holeshot on his KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition. Dungey led the first quarter of the race while a major battle evolved behind him between five top riders.
Then Dungey fell in a corner just before the half way mark and lost the lead to James Stewart. Behind Stewart, Roczen, Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed all battled for the second place position.
Roczen and Villopoto swapped positions three times with Roczen eventually gaining the spot. Then Reed slipped by Roczen and Stewart and went on to take the win. Stewart finished second while Roczen hung on to finish third. Dungey recovered from his crash to finish sixth.
Roczen regains the red plate as championship leader, which was also his after his win in his first 450-class ride at Anaheim 1 to open the season. Dungey is tied for third just three points behind Roczen.
SX 250 West Coast championship
In the 250 SX, Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy KTM) picked up second place to retain the red plate as championship leader after three rounds while Red Bull KTM’s Dean Ferris, in his rookie year with the team, rebounded after a mid-race crash to finish eleventh. The Australian moves up to ninth in the points standings for the West Coast Championship, in what is a fiercely competitive arena.
Ferris got a great jump in his heat race and was sitting in a qualifying position from the start. He made a few key passes to finish in fifth for a decent gate pick in the main event. He got out of the gate reasonably well in the main then
cut to the inside of the first corner into third place before conceding some places in the next lap.
But Ferris came unstuck when Malcolm Stewart crashed right in his line. He recovered quickly but lost multiple positions and made a valiant attempt to get back into the top ten, finally finishing one spot short.
“It’s unfortunate that I crashed tonight,” commented Ferris. “I was hoping to improve upon last week’s performance but my crash set me back. Having a poor result just motivates you to try harder each week. I will work even harder this week to be inside the top ten at the next round in Oakland.”
Next Event; Oakland, CA – January 26, 2014
