Roczen Takes His First Victory of the Season, in Indianapolis

Ken Roczen put together an impressive performance at round four of the AMA Supercross series, scoring his first main-event victory of 2021, in Indianapolis. The Team Honda HRC rider’s win keeps him at the top of the title chase, with a six-point lead.

Despite some bad luck in the previous events, Roczen entered the first Indy round with a narrow 450SX points lead, and he demonstrated his unrelenting drive as he returned to the top of the podium in dominant fashion. The German was strong throughout the evening program, taking the win in his heat race before grabbing a third-place start in the main event. Roczen quickly advanced to second and was involved in an action-packed battle with Adam Cianciarulo and Eli Tomac before he made a strong pass for the lead seconds before the halfway flags went out. He briefly lost the lead when he ran off the track, but he regained it and never looked back, holding off Tomac to the finish.

Roczen’s teammate Jett Lawrence showed impressive speed throughout the day in the 250SX East class, posting the best qualifying time and finishing second in his heat race. Lawrence made a mistake at the start in the main event, and soon after had to stop to avoid another rider on the wall jump, leaving him in 12th place. Undeterred, the young Australian charged through the pack to third with three laps remaining. When he attempted to pass Christian Craig for second on the final lap, the two collided and went off the track, dropping Lawrence to fourth at the finish.

NOTES

• Team Honda HRC personnel arrived at the Lucas Oil Stadium on Thursday morning and received their first COVID-19 tests for the three-round Indianapolis residency.
• The first Media Day riding session for Indianapolis took place at the stadium on Friday with Team Honda HRC riders Ken Roczen and Jett Lawrence both participating.
• Although Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton missed the first Indianapolis round to continue rehabilitating his right shoulder, he participated in several interviews on Saturday morning, via Zoom from his home in Florida, including a live segment on ESPN 107.5 FM for the Jeff Rickard and Joe Staysniak Show, an interview with The Indianapolis Star, and Race Day Live. Sexton is hoping to return for the third Indy round.
• Roczen posted the fastest 450SX time in the first qualifying session and the fifth-best time overall, at 47.428”. Muc-Off Honda’s Justin Brayton was seventh-best at 47.808”, and SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda riders Benny Bloss, Broc Tickle and Vince Friese were 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-best, respectively, with times of 48.496”, 48.714” and 48.817”.
• In 250SX East qualifying, Lawrence posted the fastest time with a 47.278”, in the final session. Muc-Off Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg was sixth at 48.473”, with Phoenix Racing Honda’s Joshua Osby eighth.
• Roczen finished on top in the second 450SX heat race, with Tickle placing fifth and Brayton posting a ninth-place result. Heat 1 saw Bloss finish eighth, while Friese was 18^th. Lawrence was second in 250SX heat 2, whereas Oldenburg and Osby were third and fourth in heat 1.
• As the 450SX winner, Roczen took part in the post-race virtual press conference, and the following afternoon he was also interviewed by the nationally syndicated SpeedFreaks Radio show on Sirius XM
• With the first race of the Indianapolis triple-header complete, the riders and teams are preparing for round 5, which happens on Tuesday, with round 6 set to take place Saturday.
• The 450SX win was the 16th of Roczen’s career in AMA Supercross, with his previous victory having come at last year’s fifth Salt Lake City round, on June 14.

Media contact:

Kayla Mead // Jonnum Media // kayla@jonnummedia.com // +1 (760) 822-4786