After a brief lull, Ken Roczen has thoroughly taken back all the momentum in the 450 Class championship race, sweeping both motos at RedBud to take the overall victory for the second week in a row.
In the first moto, Roczen didn’t get the best start and sat in eighth place after the opening lap. By the end of Lap 2 though, he had already moved into the top-five. He then got around Eli Tomac for third place two laps later to make it a three-way battle for the lead with Trey Canard and Ryan Dungey. Roczen passed both riders on Lap 5, taking over the top spot from Canard right after the racers went through LaRocco’s Leap – the giant jump that is RedBud’s defining obstacle. With an empty track in front of him, Roczen was able to pull away for his fifth moto win of the year.
Roczen got a much better start in Moto 2, taking the MotoSport.com Holeshot, but Canard was all over him and quickly made the pass for the lead. Roczen and Canard would then engage in an exciting duel for first place over the next ten minutes, frequently ending up side-by-side in the air. About six minutes into the moto, it appeared that Roczen had taken the position away, but Canard passed him right back on LaRocco’s Leap. A few minutes later, Roczen was finally able to dive inside of Canard at the top of one of the hills, then shut the door on the Honda Muscle Milk rider as the two headed down the hill toward the tabletop jump. As he has done all year, Roczen was able to cruise to another victory once he had moved into the top spot.
“I actually struggled a little bit in the first practice,” Roczen admitted. “I made a little change to the bike that made [the track] somewhat easier on me. It was definitely a step in the right direction, and I guess it just clicked.”
The win is significant for Roczen because he successfully increased his championship lead from 16 to 26 points over his Red Bull KTM teammate Dungey, who finished third in both motos.
In his second race in the 450 Class, Eli Tomac secured the second-place spot on the overall podium with 4-2 moto finishes. Dungey’s 3-3 finishes landed him on the podium in third alongside Roczen and Tomac.
“I definitely ate a lot of roost today,” Tomac said afterwards. “When you’re behind a guy, you’re pulling tearoffs once or twice a lap, and actually the first moto, I ended up running out of tearoffs. So I threw 21 on it for the second moto and had clear vision and did a little bit better.”
For the second week in a row, James Stewart was not a factor in the race. A crash with Josh Grant in Moto 1 forced him into the pits for an early exit, and he was only able to salvage a 12th-place finish in Moto 2 after early struggles.
In his first race riding for Honda Muscle Milk, Fredrik Noren bounced back in a big way from a disappointing Moto 1. Getting off to a great start that initially put him inside the top-five, Noren battled hard throughout the second moto to record his first top-ten finish of the season – hopefully a sign of things to come for the former privateer who is still adjusting to the new bike. It landed him 11th overall on the day, a new career high.
RedBud 450 Moto 2 Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Eli Tomac (-10.3 seconds)
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Trey Canard
5. Andrew Short
6. Josh Grant
7. Chad Reed
8. Brett Metcalfe
9. Justin Brayton
10. Fredrik Noren
11. Ryan Sipes
12. James Stewart
13. Kyle Chisholm
14. Christian Craig
15. Ben LaMay
16. Matt Goerke
17. Nick Wey
18. Jimmy Albertson
19. Evgeny Mikhaylov
20. Cade Clason
RedBud 450 Class Overall Results
1. Ken Roczen (1-1)
2. Eli Tomac (4-2)
3. Ryan Dungey (3-3)
4. Trey Canard (2-4)
5. Andrew Short (5-5)
6. Josh Grant (6-6)
7. Chad Reed (8-70
8. Brett Metcalfe (7-8)
9. Justin Brayton (10-9)
10. Kyle Chisholm (13-13)
