Double-podium for Red Bull KTM Factory Team as Roczen Takes First and Dungey Takes Third
OutdoorHub 02.24.14
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen took his second career 450SX victory in front of a sold out Georgia Dome crowd at the eighth round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series. Factory teammate Ryan Dungey joined Roczen on the podium with a podium 3.
In what was a great night out for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team, Roczen’s win moves him up to within nine points of leader Ryan Villopoto in the championship points while Dungey is in fourth place, 30 points behind the leader.
The two teammates were paired in the first heat and Roczen got away well to be fifth at the start with Dungey a bit further back just above mid-pack. Roczen closed the gap on two riders in front of him to finish third overall and Dungey made a few critical passes to move up to fourth so that both riders transferred to the main event.
Then in the main, Roczen was third at the first corner Dungey was two spots back in fifth position. On lap two, James Stewart, who was in second place crashed in a right-hand corner allowing both Roczen and Dungey to move up one position. Once in second place, Roczen concentrated on closing in on the lead ride of Mike Alessi.
Three laps later, Roczen missed a triple jump and Villopoto made the pass but Roczen never let Villopoto out of his sight. The two of them closed the gap on Alessi in the next lap and made the pass through the whoops. Dungey followed suit just after the finish line jump of that same lap to ensure a close three-way battle for the rest of the race. With six laps to go, Roczen started to pressure Villopoto, who missed a triple jump and suddenly the German rider hit the front. Roczen hung on to secure his second-ever career 450SX class win and Dungey hung on to finish third.
“It feels so great to get a win,” stated Roczen. “Getting on the podium is nice, but to get a win is so much better. It proves that hard work pays off. I am so happy I was able to pull it off and so thankful to my team for being behind me and building me a great bike.”
Dungey commented, “It was great that the three of us were so close but the track got really rough at the end. I tried to take a few different lines to see if I could make up some time but the track was so rough it was hard. We work hard every week to make things better and we are ready to get on the top step of the podium.”
Next Event: Indianapolis, IN – March 1, 2014
US Supercross Rd. 8 – 450 class results
1, Ken Roczen – KTM
2, Ryan Villopoto
3, Ryan Dungey – KTM
4, Wil Hahn
5, Justin Brayton
Other KTM
9, Andrew Short – KTM
11, Matt Goerke – KTM
13, Ivan Tedesco – KTM
Overall Point Standings –
1, Ryan Villopoto, 166
2, Ken Roczen 157
3, James Stewart 140
4, Ryan Dungey 136
5, Justin Brayton 130
