Wet Weekend for Roczen at Unadilla National

Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen pushed through adversity this weekend at the rain-soaked Unadilla Motocross track in New Berlin, New York, tallying 7-7 moto finishes for seventh overall in one of the most challenging races of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship season.

The gate fell quickly in moto one, catching Roczen off guard and shuffling him through the field in turn one, where his goggles were coated in a layer of mud, forcing Roczen to pit early for a fresh pair. Pushing to make up spots in the sloppy conditions, Roczen went down twice but rebounded to finish seventh. Held under slightly sunnier skies, moto two presented its own unique challenges, Roczen getting off to a better start but once again having to pull into the pits for a new set of goggles early in the race. From there, the German got into a rhythm and gradually worked his way through the field. Unfortunately, while running sixth and pushing to make up another two positions late in the moto, Roczen fell and was forced to ride the remainder of the race with mud-packed hand grips. Having turned his fastest laps of the moto just before the crash, Roczen was relegated to seventh position.

NOTES

• With rain in the forecast, the Unadilla track was modified slightly after the practice sessions, with a section removed. The track had also been prepped with rain in mind and was therefore very hard-packed on Saturday morning, forcing riders to change their approach in the relatively dry timed qualifying sessions. “They sealed off the track because we were expecting some rain, but we were pretty dry in the first couple of practices and it just really started hammering down after that,” Roczen said.
• Working on suspension setup, Roczen qualified fourth-fastest for the Unadilla National with a 2’11.462” lap, which was secured in the first session.
• Roczen found great rhythm in the latter stages of the second moto, posting his fastest lap of the race on lap 10, a 2’42.676”.
• Toshiki Tomita earned his best-ever AMA Pro Motocross result with 10-9 moto finishes and a 10^thoverall aboard his Masa Ito-prepped CRF450R.
• Roczen currently sits fourth in the championship standings, just five points back from third place.
• In the 250MX class, GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton was the top Red Rider, posting 5-8 moto finishes for fifth overall. Teammate Cameron McAdoo had an impressive showing in moto two, taking the holeshot and leading the opening laps before going down and finishing fifth, which took him to 11^thoverall when combined with his 15^th-place finish in moto one. RJ Hampshire was one spot back in the overall results.
• Despite the precipitation and then mud, fans packed the Unadilla track and hung around all day, standing out in the rain to take in all four action-packed 450 and 250 motos.
• Next up for the Red Riders is the Budds Creek National on August 18. The penultimate round of the 2018 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, the race is hosted in Mechanicsville, Maryland.

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