Emotional Overall Victory for Roczen at Hangtown Season Opener

The opening round of the 2019 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, held in Rancho Cordova, California, saw Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen secure his first overall 450MX victory since incurring serious injuries in the 2017 AMA Supercross season. Roczen’s long-awaited return to the top step of the podium gives him the red plate heading into round two.

Roczen got off the line to a decent start in the first moto, emerging from the first turn in sixth. The German made swift and aggressive passes, taking over the lead on the first lap and building a gap. Throughout the 30-minute-plus-two-lap race, Roczen rode flawlessly, stretching his advantage to 15 seconds by the checkered flag. Meanwhile, teammate Cole Seely got off to an 11^th-place start and worked his way into ninth on the second lap, which is where he spent the remainder of the race.

When the gate dropped on moto two, Roczen emerged from the muddy first turn in fifth place aboard his CRF450R. As in the first race, Roczen made speedy and precise passes, moving into second on the first lap and setting his sights on the leading Eli Tomac. He closed the gap and made an incredible pass over the Fly 150 jump to take over the front position. Roczen quickly began to pull away but small mistakes on the deteriorating track allowed Tomac to close back in and retake the lead. The two frontrunners continued to play cat and mouse, but Roczen was never able to mount another charge and settled into second, which is where he finished. Seely had a challenging race due to the wet and muddy conditions. After getting a less-than-desirable start, the Californian was forced into the mechanics’ area for new goggles after the first lap, sending him back to 19^th. He regained a few positions before multiple crashes once again thwarted him, and he ultimately crossed the finish line in 18^thplace.

NOTES

• The pre-race press conference took place on Thursday, with Ken Roczen fielding questions from the media, but heavy rain caused postponement of the riding session until Friday, when Team Honda HRC riders were given the opportunity to take part in one 30-minute practice session.
• On Friday, Cole Seely and Ken Roczen were joined by GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig, Chase Sexton, RJ Hampshire and rookie Hunter Lawrence for a Hangtown Open House at the local powerhouse dealer, Roseville Honda. Fans lined up to meet and get autographs from their favorite riders and for a chance to win a Honda CRF110F. At the conclusion of the event, Seely drew the winning ticket for the third consecutive year, with the trail bike going to Dwayne Triplett.
• Roczen started race day on a positive note, leading the charge during qualifying and securing the fastest lap with a 2’15.236” time in the first practice session. Seely was eighth with a 2’18.419” lap.
• Following practice, both Seely and Roczen opted to mount plastic Cycra handguards to their CRF450Rs to deal with the mud.
• Rain moved in as the first 450MX race came to a close, creating a difficult track for the second race. Despite the differing conditions from one race to another, Roczen said he didn’t vary his approach. “You really don’t change the bike too much from one moto to another, even when the conditions are as opposite as they were today, because you really don’t know how the bike is going to react,” he explained. “You want to ride what you know. You can maybe change a clicker or two but that’s it. You know the bike you were riding, so changing anything could go either way. It’s all about just staying consistent and minimizing mistakes in those situations. You can gain and lose a lot of time very easily.”
• In the 250MX class, newly crowned AMA Supercross 250SX East Champion Chase Sexton led the charge for the GEICO Honda crew, securing fifth overall with 4-6 finishes aboard his CRF250R. Teammate RJ Hampshire finished sixth, while Christian Craig was 10^th, one spot ahead of rookie Hunter Lawrence.
• The Honda Red Riders will be at Southern California’s Fox Raceway this Saturday, May 25, for round 2 of the AMA Pro Motocross series. On Friday evening, riders will head to Temecula Motorsports for an autograph session.

Media contact:

Mandie Fonteyn // Jonnum Media  // mandie@jonnummedia.com// +1 (951) 537-0454