In only his third race back from injury, Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen continued his amazing progression, battling hard for the lead in both motos at the Thunder Valley National to score his first overall podium of the season, landing second with 2-2 results at round three of the AMA Pro Motocross series.

When the gate dropped for the first moto, the German got off to a seventh-place start, but he moved up to fifth by the green flag. He had advanced to third before the race was red-flagged and everyone was forced to return to the starting line. On the restart, Roczen rocketed his CRF450R to the holeshot and, after briefly surrendering the front spot, regained it later in the opening lap and maintained it for over half the race. Coming under severe pressure from Eli Tomac, Roczen was able to evade the subsequent advances for several laps before relinquishing the lead on lap 10. He fought hard to make a counterattack but was eventually forced to settle for second.

In moto two, Roczen got off to a fourth-place start but blitzed the downhill to quickly move into second. He closed in on the leader, and a three-way battle for the top position ensued, with Roczen falling to third in the battle. The top two riders tangled on the next lap, which gave Roczen the opportunity to take the lead. He stayed smooth and consistent up front before once again coming under fire, and after fighting tooth and nail for several laps, he slipped to second with 10 minutes remaining.

NOTES

  • For the third consecutive week, recovering Team Honda HRC rider Cole Seely was with his team at the National. On Friday, he joined Ken Roczen and the GEICO Honda riders for an autograph session at the local Honda Powerhouse dealership, Peak Honda World in Littleton. While at the race, Seely signed autographs for fans before heading to the Pro Motocross TV compound to commentate alongside Jason Weigandt and Grant Langston during the pre-race qualifying show. “It’s been awesome coming to the first few rounds to hang out with my team,” Seely said later. “I hadn’t been to a race since Tampa, so to get out and be around everyone was great for me. My recovery is going well and I actually did my first little workout last week. I was so sore after [laughs]! I’m supposed to be able to start riding September 1 so I still have some time, but I’m excited to keep building my strength in the meantime.”
  • The day started on a positive note, as Roczen secured the second-fastest time during the morning’s second qualifying session, with a solid 2’06.697” lap.
  • At 5,500 ft. elevation, the Thunder Valley track poses its challenges for not only the riders, but mechanics as well. “Obviously at elevation the bike is going to run a little slower,” explained Roczen’s mechanic Oscar Wirdeman. “Luckily, our bike is really fast already and we normally slow it down for Ken anyways, so we had a lot of extra power we were able to add here, with ignition and mapping stuff. Even this morning the bike was still too fast for him so we had to tune it down, which is good because the elevation doesn’t affect us as much as it could. You also want to check all the fluids at elevation. We obviously blead the brakes when we build the bikes, but we check it and do it again up here.”
  • On race day, Team Honda HRC was pleased to have two-time U.S. Olympic Gold Medal skier Mikaela Shiffrin stop by their pits for a meet-and-greet with fellow Red Bull athlete Ken Roczen. Although the two had never met previously, there is a connection as Shiffrin’s father is an anesthesiologist at the Steadman Clinic in Vail and worked with Roczen on a few of his surgeries. Additionally, Roczen watched the Winter Olympics on television while in Vail and became a big fan of Shiffrin as she competed in PyeongChang. “It was awesome having Mikaela at the race today,” Roczen said. “I love any Olympic sports. She was really cool and a big fan, so it was nice to exchange some stories.”
  • Roczen’s Colorado performance moved him up two positions in the championship standings, to fifth, with 97 points.
  • It was a stellar day for GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin, who powered his CRF250R to his first overall win of the season with 2-1 moto finishes, moving into the championship points lead, which means the No. 6 machine will be adorned with the red plate at the next round. Teammate Chase Sexton secured seventh overall with 10-6 marks, while RJ Hampshire rounded out the top 10 with 13-7 scores.
  • Team Honda HRC will take a one-week hiatus before returning to action on June 16 for round four at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania.

Media contact:

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

Ken Roczen 94

“Being in the battle up front and being in the mix today is awesome. Hangtown was honestly kind of miserable just because I didn’t know what to expect, didn’t have a lot of time on the bike, and everything just felt so foreign. Here, I basically rode the same bike that I rode at Glen Helen, and though it wasn’t totally ideal, I knew what the bike was going to do and how it would react to things. We got good starts and rode up front. It’s great to have the racing butterflies again and to be doing good. It’s just amazing and the greatest feeling ever and so much better than sitting on the couch. I could have one day or six months of preparation and I’m still going to want to go out there and do what I did today. I want to be up front, I want to battle, and if I don’t win, that’s fine. I can’t expect myself to go out there right away and go 1-1, but to be up front, go 2-2, and be on the podium is beyond amazing. I’m having a blast right now.”

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“Today definitely feels great. This is right according to plan, if not ahead of schedule. Ken’s plan has been to build and get stronger each week, get good starts, and continue to learn, which is exactly what he did today. I don’t know if anyone, including Ken, expected him to be back on the podium at this point in the season, but he’s incredibly tough mentally and knows in his mind that he’s capable of doing what he did. He really showed how strong he already is, and this just continues to build his confidence so I think soon he’s going to be ready to battle even more.”

AMA Pro Motocross 2018
Race Round 3   Thunder Valley

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 Bloss Benny 73 USA SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda Honda
7 Peick Weston 23 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
8 Nicoletti Phillip 46 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Yamaha
9 Merriam Dylan 559 USA None Yamaha
10 Locurcio Lorenzo 44 VEN None Honda
11 Masterpool Jake 146 USA None Yamaha
12 Ray Alex 87 USA SGB Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt's Kawasaki Kawasaki
13 Autenrieth Cade 330 USA Mountain Motorsports/Factory Connection/Hinson KTM
15 Lamay Ben 71 USA TPJ/Fly Racing Honda
16 Leith Brandon 388 USA Team Leith Kawasaki
17 Cooper Cody 121 NZL Crownkiwi Enterprise Honda
18 Anderson Derek 191 USA None Honda
19 Miller Henry 81 USA Trigger Racing Yamaha
20 DeMartile Dare 207 USA None Honda
AMA Pro Motocross 2018
Race Round 3   Thunder Valley

450MX Moto 2 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 Bloss Benny 73 USA SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda Honda
6 Barcia Justin 51 USA TLD/Red Bull GasGas GasGas
7 Peick Weston 23 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki
8 Nicoletti Phillip 46 USA Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing Yamaha
10 Merriam Dylan 559 USA None Yamaha
11 Cooper Cody 121 NZL Crownkiwi Enterprise Honda
12 Autenrieth Cade 330 USA Mountain Motorsports/Factory Connection/Hinson KTM
13 Masterpool Jake 146 USA None Yamaha
14 Locurcio Lorenzo 44 VEN None Honda
15 Tomita Toshiki 718 JPN Team Honda HRC Honda
16 Miller Henry 81 USA Trigger Racing Yamaha
17 Lopez Felix 577 MEX None KTM
18 Leith Brandon 388 USA Team Leith Kawasaki
19 Marquier Chase 81 USA None Kawasaki
20 Lionnet Bradley 321 USA None Honda
Location Information

Lakewood, CO, United States - View in Google Maps