While Trey Canard has seemingly gotten stronger in recent weeks, he still can’t match the pace of current points leader in Ken Roczen. Just one week after giving up the lead to Roczen about ten minutes into the second moto at RedBud, the two went head-to-head in Moto 1 at Budds Creek, with Roczen once again taking away the top spot at about the same point in the race.
The start of the race was dominated by the three JGR Yamaha riders. Justin Brayton took the MotoSport.com Holeshot and had teammates Phil Nicoletti and Josh Grant right behind him. None of the trio were really able to capitalize on their great starts though, with Josh Grant ending up the only one to finish the race inside the top-ten, taking ninth.
Brayton managed to stay out front for a minute or two, but Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard and Ken Roczen were all making moves to the front behind him. Dungey worked his way up to second but was passed by Canard and would settle into a duel with Roczen. Canard went to the outside to make the pass on Brayton for the lead by the end of Lap 1, and Dungey and Roczen would move around the JGR Yamaha rider shortly after.
About four minutes into the moto, Roczen had pulled alongside of Dungey, eventually passing his teammate for second and setting his sights on Canard, catching up to the Honda Muscle Milk rider a few minutes later.
“I don’t remember much about the pass [on Dungey],” Roczen said after the race. “I was just trying to get to the front and avoid being roosted.”
The battle would go on for about three minutes before Roczen turned on the jets as they headed downhill and passed Canard on the outside of the next turn on Lap 5. From there, Roczen would once again put a slight gap on his competitors and lead the rest of the moto. Dungey, who took second from Canard around the midway point, would make it interesting at the end by pulling within two seconds of Roczen but couldn’t get close enough to strike before the checkered flag came out. As great as Dungey has been this year, Roczen has actually led 107 more laps than his teammate (116-9).
Watch Roczen’s pass for the lead:
Canard held on for third place, fending off a challenge from a hard-charging Eli Tomac late in the moto. James Stewart rounded out the top-five but once again suffered from a poor start that kept him from truly challenging the lead pack.
Fredrik Noren posted his second straight tenth-place moto finish, working his way from outside the top-ten to secure another impressive result in his second race with the Honda Muscle Milk team. Keep in mind that Noren had very little testing time on the bike before RedBud and should only get better from here.
Budds Creek 450 Moto 1 Results
1. Ken Roczen
2. Ryan Dungey (-1.9 seconds)
3. Trey Canard
4. Eli Tomac
5. James Stewart
6. Weston Peick
7. Brett Metcalfe
8. Andrew Short
9. Josh Grant
10. Fredrik Noren
11. Matt Goerke
12. Phil Nicoletti
13. Malcolm Stewart
14. Justin Brayton
15. Christian Craig
16. Cade Clason
17. Killy Rusk
18. Ben LaMay
19. Ivan Tedesco
20. Evgeny Mikhaylov
