RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen lands third win of the year at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen netted his third 450cc main event win of the season in convincing fashion when the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series ventured north of the U.S. border to Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, tonight.
The win was hardly a “gimme” for the 21-year-old former Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Champion from Germany, as he rounded the first turn fifth behind some heavy players, including GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle, Red Bull KTM’s defending series champ Ryan Dungey, Daytona Supercross winner and Monster Energy Kawasaki-backed Eli Tomac and Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely. But Bogle’s holeshot and brilliant start was just a brief flash as he got out of shape in the first rhythm section and crashed, collecting Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson in the process. Anderson would remount and keep racing, but Bogle was done for the night, although he appeared to be uninjured in the spectacular crash. Two-time former Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion Chad Reed also crashed on the opening lap and exited the race.
Dungey emerged with the lead, with Tomac and Roczen right on his tail, setting up the fireworks that would take place during the next couple laps. Tomac, clearly riding with confidence after his Daytona win of one week ago, charged under Dungey and snatched the lead away before the first triple jump. Roczen was also in charge mode, and he, too, got by the champion to run in second place, setting his sights on Tomac, who led a five-rider freight train that included Seely and the fast-moving Marvin Musquin.
Roczen was quicker than Tomac through the whoop sections, and he was able to slip underneath Tomac to take over the race lead on lap two. Roczen immediately began to stretch his lead. No one else got close to him after that, and Roczen clicked off the next 18 laps, posting lap times in the 54-second range as he went on to score a huge win by 3.4 seconds.
“I simply got a better start [tonight],” Roczen said of the win. “I think I was top three. In these tough conditions you could see the really hard base, and the whoops got really cupped out. I don’t know, we’ve been solid all day, you know, even in qualifying and practice. I wasn’t the fastest, but I had a good feeling, and that’s all really that matters. I knew I could lay it down in the race. It was awesome. I made some passes, and I had a few-second lead towards the end and I just wanted to ride safe because the whoops got really sketchy. I’m happy right now.”
The battle for the other podium spots was just beginning, however, as Tomac chose to double-double-double through one of the rhythm sections on lap five while Dungey double-tripled-singled into the next corner and made a pass for second place. But Tomac refused to back down, and he executed the very next rhythm section perfectly to retake the position. Musquin was past Seely by then, and he latched onto Dungey’s rear fender. Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.
The top five remained the same until lap eight, when Dungey made another run at Tomac and passed him in the left-hander before the whoop section to retake second place. Musquin had dropped back a bit, but he closed the gap again and began to pressure Tomac for third place. The Frenchman was on the charge, and he banged his way past Dungey in a right-hand corner to take over third place on lap 10. It took another five laps, but Musquin was in position to capitalize when Dungey bobbled and fell, and Musquin moved into second place, landing on the podium for the third consecutive week.
“I’m happy,” Musquin said. “It was a tough track for me today. I struggled in the heat race but made it happen in the main. I had some good lines and felt great. Obviously Ryan went down, so it kind of gave me that second place, but I fought hard at the end. I was able to be smooth for 20 laps, and the guys behind me kind of dropped down. It feels good to be up here again, and second place, that’s good.”
Dungey remounted and held on for third place, losing only minimal points to Roczen in the series points battle while also extending his podium finish streak to a series record 26 races after tying Chad Reed’s record of 25 consecutive podiums one week ago.
“It [the record] means a lot,” Dungey said. “We’ve worked hard to be in that position. As a little kid I dreamed of being in the category of [James] Stewart and Ricky [Carmichael] and Chad [Reed]. Those guys are very respectable, as well as all of all the list of riders that have ever swung a leg over a dirtbike. So, it’s good. You know we’re working hard.
“Tonight was tough,” Dungey continued. “I got into second, and once I got into second I was really making a hard charge to get to Ken [Roczen]. I didn’t really want him to get away like that in the beginning, and then I was pushing and lost the front and, hey, it is what it is—going for it. At the same time, there was Marvin [Musquin] to capitalize on it. I tried to get by Marvin, but he was really riding good. Toronto was tough conditions tonight. You really had to apply yourself. We’ll regroup and put in another week. Hey, third place is not bad either. We’ll keep going.”
Seely ran Tomac down with five laps to go and passed the Kawasaki rider for fourth place in one of the rhythm sections on lap 16 to set the top five finishing order. Tomac then barely held off BTO Sports KTM’s Justin Brayton at the finish line, with Team Honda HRC’s Trey Canard finishing seventh after setting the fastest qualifying time and also winning his heat race earlier in the night. Weston Peick, Anderson and Jake Weimer completed the top 10.
The 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series continues March 19 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Rogers Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Results: March 12, 2016 (Round 10 of 16)
450 Main
1. Ken Roczen-Suz
2. Marvin Musquin-KTM
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM
4. Cole Seely-Hon
5. Eli Tomac-Kaw
6. Justin Brayton-KTM
7. Trey Canard-Hon
8. Weston Peick-Yam
9. Jason Anderson-Hus
10. Jake Weimer-Suz
11. Blake Baggett-Suz
12. Vince Friese-Hon
13. Mike Alessi-Hon
14. Nick Wey-Kaw
15. AJ Catanzaro-Kaw
16. Nick Schmidt-Suz
17. Cade Clason-Hon
18. Deven Raper-Kaw
19. Kyle Cunningham-Suz
20. Tommy Hahn-Yam
21. Justin Bogle-Hon
22. Chad Reed-Yam
2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Points Standings (After 10 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-233/5 wins
2. Ken Roczen-199/3 wins
3. Jason Anderson-175/1 win
4. Eli Tomac-170/1 win
5. Cole Seely-163
6. Marvin Musquin-156
7. Chad Reed-142
8. Justin Brayton-125
9. Davi Millsaps-105
10. Jake Weimer-92
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