This weekend marked round eight of the AMA Pro Motocross series, at Millville, Minnesota’s Spring Creek MX Park, where Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen rode strong aboard his CRF450R, leading over half of the first moto en route to an exciting second-place overall result, via 2-3 finishes.

When the gate dropped in moto one, Roczen rocketed his No. 94 machine down the start straight, taking the holeshot and lead. Within the first few laps, the German had already pulled a small gap on the riders behind him. He came under fire at the halfway mark but fought hard to hold off the advances. It was a game of cat-and-mouse for much of the remaining 30-minute-plus-two-lap-race until lapped riders began to pose a challenge. While charging through the sand whoops, Roczen was held up by another rider, enabling Eli Tomac to sneak by. Roczen was unable to mount a counterattack and took the checkered flag in second. In moto two, Roczen turned in another solid start, coming around the first turn in third and then sneaking into second while charging down the big downhill on the opening lap. With 15 minutes remaining, a mistake allowed Tomac to close in, and a heated battle ensued. The two diced back and forth for some time before Roczen was overtaken and then went on to finish third.

NOTES

  • Ken Roczen started the day on a solid note, riding well during the morning qualifying practice to secure the third-quickest time, with a 2’13.438” lap.
  • Following the Spring Creek National, Roczen flew directly to the West Coast, where he will spend this week testing with Team Honda HRC in California. “The bottom line and overall goal for testing this week is to make Ken even more comfortable so he can continue to ride that race pace for longer,” said team manager Erik Kehoe. “We’ll be out at the track twice this week, building and refining our current settings, as well as trying a few different things.”
  • With his solid second-overall finish, Roczen maintains fourth overall in the championship standings with 288 points, eight behind third with four rounds remaining.
  • It will be a short week for the Team Honda HRC crew as they head to Washington State’s Washougal MX Park on Friday for designated press day, where Roczen will talk with local media and ride the track during two 20-minute sessions. On Friday evening, he and the GEICO Honda squad will make an appearance at Pro Caliber Motorsports in Vancouver to sign autographs and meet fans, starting at 6 p.m.

Media contact:

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

Ken Roczen 94

“I’m pretty happy with today. I think this is one of the best weekends we’ve had overall. I felt comfortable all day and had a lot of fun. I did pretty good in qualifying, got good starts, and felt like I was flying in the first moto, so I’m happy with second. Obviously in the second moto there wasn’t enough left in the tank, but we have to just keep building from here. We made another small adjustment on the bike, but nothing major. The team and I are still working to refine the bike because this is my first season riding it outdoors and I came into it without much testing, so I’m searching for what works best. We’ve definitely made the bike better and I think it showed today. Normally I’m 4-5 seconds behind in qualifying practice and I was pretty close today, so it was good. I’m doing what I can and am enjoying the process of returning. I feel like once we win again, it’ll just be that much sweeter.”

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“I think today was an even better second place than last time. Ken’s starts are on point, he led more laps, and his intensity level was higher for longer. I think he’s just getting stronger each week and starting to build on his momentum, so it was definitely a great day and progress in the right direction. The intensity level in the races is so much higher than training during the week, so right now Ken is still racing himself into race shape. He just needs to continue to get good starts and be in the hunt up front each week, and we’ll continue to see him on the podium.”

AMA Pro Motocross 2018
Race Round 8   Millville

450MX Moto 1 Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Tomac Eli 3 USA Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
2 Roczen Ken 94 GER Team Honda HRC Honda
3 Baggett Blake 4 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
4 Musquin Marvin 25 FRA Red Bull KTM KTM
5 Barcia Justin 51 USA TLD/Red Bull GasGas GasGas
6 Peick Weston 23 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
7 Webb Cooper 2 USA Red Bull KTM KTM
8 Nicoletti Phillip 46 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Yamaha
9 Miller Henry 81 USA Trigger Racing Yamaha
10 Hill Justin 46 USA Smartop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda Honda
11 Bloss Benny 73 USA SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda Honda
12 Cunningham Kyle 39 USA H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki
13 Locurcio Lorenzo 44 VEN None Honda
14 Bogle Justin 19 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
15 Cooper Cody 121 NZL Crownkiwi Enterprise Honda
16 Masterpool Jake 146 USA None Yamaha
17 Crown Joseph 95 USA Club MX KTM
18 Gaines Nick 49 USA Traders Racing Yamaha
19 Lamay Ben 71 USA TPJ/Fly Racing Honda
20 Lopez Felix 577 MEX None KTM
AMA Pro Motocross 2018
Race Round 8   Millville

450MX Moto 2 Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Tomac Eli 3 USA Monster Energy Kawasaki Kawasaki
2 Musquin Marvin 25 FRA Red Bull KTM KTM
3 Roczen Ken 94 GER Team Honda HRC Honda
4 Baggett Blake 4 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
5 Barcia Justin 51 USA TLD/Red Bull GasGas GasGas
6 Peick Weston 23 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
7 Hill Justin 46 USA Smartop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda Honda
8 Bloss Benny 73 USA SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda Honda
9 Webb Cooper 2 USA Red Bull KTM KTM
10 Nicoletti Phillip 46 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Yamaha
11 Miller Henry 81 USA Trigger Racing Yamaha
12 Bogle Justin 19 USA Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS KTM
13 Locurcio Lorenzo 44 VEN None Honda
14 Lamay Ben 71 USA TPJ/Fly Racing Honda
15 Crown Joseph 95 USA Club MX KTM
16 Cunningham Kyle 39 USA H.E.P Motorsports Suzuki
17 Tomita Toshiki 718 JPN Team Honda HRC Honda
18 Short John 72 USA Barx/Chaparral/Ecstar Suzuki Suzuki
19 Gaines Nick 49 USA Traders Racing Yamaha
20 Masterpool Jake 146 USA None Yamaha
Location Information

Millville, MN, United States - View in Google Maps