Roczen a Close Second at Atlanta 3 Supercross

AMA Supercross’s Atlanta Motor Speedway tripleheader wrapped up on Saturday with round 15, with Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen leading the majority of the 450SX main event but ultimately settling for second, while teammate Chase Sexton finished 10th. In the penultimate round of the 250SX West series, Hunter Lawrence showed good speed on his CRF250R before finishing fourth.

After nailing a strong start and aggressively moving into the lead on lap one, Roczen ran at the front for most of the 20-minute-plus-one lap race, turning lap times nearly a second faster than the next-fastest rider and stretching his advantage to 12.060 seconds. A late mistake in the whoops resulted in the German stepping off the bike, and although he managed to quickly remount with the lead, he struggled to refind rhythm. On the penultimate lap, he was passed by title rival Cooper Webb, who he chased to the finish for a close second. Roczen sits second in the title chase.

Sexton was second-best in timed qualifying and rode to an impressive heat-race win, but suffered a less-than-ideal main-event start. After a run-in with another rider knocked him back to ninth position, he climbed to seventh on lap two, only for additional issues to put him back in the pack. He advanced to 10th by lap 11 of 14 and remained in that position until the finish.

Lawrence topped 250SX qualifying for the first time in his career and then rode to a convincing win in his heat race. After the main event was red-flagged, Lawrence was fourth on the restart, but he went off the track on lap one while avoiding another rider, hit a Tuff Block and fell. From 18th place, the Australian worked his way through the pack, advancing 14 positions to salvage an impressive fourth-place finish.

NOTES

• With just three days between the Atlanta 2 and Atlanta 3 rounds, Team Honda HRC spent the time prepping the bikes for the third and final Atlanta Motor Speedway event.
• Rapid COVID-19 tests were conducted at a drive-through station outside the speedway, and Team Honda HRC personnel underwent their second round of tests on Wednesday morning.
• The rescheduled Media Day riding session took place Friday, giving the riders time to test out the modified track layout.
• To celebrate Ken Roczen’s fourth victory of the year and Team Honda HRC’s Atlanta 2 1-2 finish, the team held a cookout at the speedway on Friday evening.
• Team Honda HRC test rider Trey Canard joined the team for the last two rounds of the tripleheader. As a board member of the United States Motorcycle Coaching Association (USMCA), Canard participated on Race Day Live Saturday evening. Seven-time AMA National Champion Ryan Dungey (brother of Sexton’s mechanic Jade Dungey), joined the team Friday afternoon and also participated on Race Day Live on Saturday.
• Round 15 kicked off the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital “We Won’t Stop” online auction, which will be held until May 3. The auction includes both racing-related and other items that were donated by teams and riders.
• Free practice saw Roczen finish second-fastest in the 450SX class, with Sexton one position behind in third. In the 250SX West class, Lawrence posted the fifth-fastest lap.
• During 450SX qualifying, Sexton was second-best with a 1’36.708” time, and Roczen was third-fastest at 1’36.530”. Spots 12 and 16 went to SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda riders Broc Tickle and Benny Bloss, respectively.
• The 250SX West class saw Lawrence top qualifying for the first time of his career, finishing fastest in both sessions, with a best lap of 1’39.208” (the only rider in the 1’39” range). Muc-Off Honda’s Mitchell Harrison was 10th, Phoenix Racing Honda riders Enzo Lopes and Kyle Peters were 11th and 13th, and FXR Chaparral Honda rider Coty Schock was 14th.
• Sexton carried his qualifying speed into the night program, riding to a solid win in the first 450SX heat race, while Tickle and Bloss were seventh and eighth, respectively. In heat 2, Roczen finished third.
• Lawrence grabbed the 250SX heat-race holeshot and led the entire way for the win, while Peters and Lopes were sixth and 10th. In heat 2, Harrison and Schock finished sixth and eighth, respectively.
• Teams and riders will now travel to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City for the last two events. In the 250SX ranks, the next round will see the return of the East Region riders, with the finale hosting the East/West 250SX showdown.

Media contact:

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