Ken Roczen had arguably the best race of his 450SX career in Toronto. Photos by: Hoppenworld

The 2016 Toronto Supercross and round ten of the Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, was a dominating performance by RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. The the #94 got into the lead on lap two and simply checked out for his third win of 2016—seventh of his 450SX career. Joining Kenny on the Toronto SX 450SX podium were the Red Bull / KTM teammates, Marvin Musquin and Ryan Dungey in second and third.

In the third 250SX Eastern Regional Championship race of the season, three of the Championship favorites, Star Racing/Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin and Aaron Plessinger and GEICO/Honda’s Malcolm Stewart, all went down in a huge pileup in the first turn. Taking advantage of the #50, #6 and #23 starting in dead last was Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Justin Hill. Justin got to the lead on lap four and sprinted away for a comfortable twenty-second win at round three. Finishing on the podium with Justin in Toronto was Martin—who went from on the ground in the first turn to second—and MAD Racing / Suzuki’s Matt Bisceglia in third.

After the checkered flags waved inside the Rogers Centre, we gathered some quotes from around the world wide web from some of the top riders. Check out what they all said about their night in Canada below. Click for Toronto SX results.

2016 Toronto SX 250SX podium. Justin Hill (center), Jeremy Martin (left) and Matt Bisceglia (right).
2016 Toronto SX 250SX podium. Justin Hill (center), Jeremy Martin (left) and Matt Bisceglia (right).

Ken Roczen: “Yeah, it’s awesome! The track conditions were really tough out there. I got a decent start and I got a little lucky in the second turn, because [Justin] Bogle went down—there was a bunch of carnage going on. I made a couple of good passes in the beginning and then I had a clear track. I thought for sure after I passed Eli [Tomac] he was going to come back and try to take it to me, but I was able to get a good gap and ride my race. It’s all about riding smart. It got really tough, it got notchy and really cupped out. Towards the end of the race I had a pretty good gap, just kept it on two wheels and rode a solid race. Towards the end I was just keeping it steady. I saw Marvin [Musquin] coming, but I was just taking it easy in the whoops. Normally, that’s the worst thing you can do—that’s when things go wrong—but overall it was great.”

 

Justin Hill: “I had a lot of confidence coming into the main after getting the top qualifier and finishing second in the heat. The bike was running awesome and I’m really happy to be in contention with the championship. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had good rides the last two weekends. I was on the podium last weekend, and I was due for a win that night. We’ve been riding good and everything’s been going just swell. It just happened to come together tonight. We got out front, and geez, by the midway point we had a nineteen-second lead and we just cruised to the victory.”

 

Jason Anderson: “I felt like I put myself in a good position. My starts have been better. I came out around sixth, but the guy who got the holeshot looped out when I was in the air and I hit his bike. It definitely wasn’t what I was planning, but at the same time I made the best of it. Luckily I’m healthy after that and put in 20 good laps. My whole front end was crooked, but all-in-all it wasn’t the worst time.”

Malcolm Stewart's jersey was shredded in the back after his crash in the first turn.  It must not have slowed the #50 down, because he fought back from dead last to get 6th.
Malcolm Stewart’s jersey was shredded in the back after his crash in the first turn. It must not have slowed the #50 down, because he fought back from dead last to get 6th.

Malcolm Stewart: “I was not giving up. The thing is I work too hard to give up. There’s no chance in heck I am coming back to this truck [before the race ends]. Unless that motorcycle cannot run, I’m not coming back here. I worked too hard in the offseason, and the team knows that I want to win. They know. If anything they came back with smiles on their face just because they know that’s riding like a champion. That’s what’s going to get you wins. Once you get the ball rolling there ain’t going to be nobody to stop you. That’s my positive energy leaving this. Get a win in Detroit [next week], regroup, and go from there.”

 

Justin Bogle: “Yeah, I messed up,” said Bogle. “I’m pretty disappointed that I pulled that off the start. I was feeling good, making progress. Heat race was really good. Honestly all in all, we’re still making progress and I’m better off now that I was. Holeshot, man! I holeshot the main event, pretty much, but I hadn’t hit that side of the rhythm all day and I just boosted [too far] and went deep. From there I was just praying that I was going to make it out of there alive. Unfortunately took a few guys down with me. Not much I could do to escape that healthy and somehow I’m okay. And my race was over after that because my bike, unfortunately it wasn’t as lucky as I was. I messed up a few things up on the machine. Obviously, just take the full blame right here on Justin Bogle. AKA, Justin Bogle just didn’t do it too solid.”

 

RJ Hampshire: “I had a good start but then I got tangled up with everyone. I was trying to come back through and I felt good, I think I was up to around tenth. But someone’s footpeg sliced my tire in that early crash, I felt it going down on me throughout the moto. I thought I could just roll around and get it to the finish, I was back in fourteenth, but we went in for a pitstop. Just going to f

Eli Tomac had the lead after lap one, but dropped back to fifth by the end of the twenty laps.
Eli Tomac had the lead after lap one, but dropped back to fifth by the end of the twenty laps.

Eli Tomac: “We’re leaving Canada with a fifth place,” said Tomac. “We had a great practice, rode really well in the heat and tried to carry that speed into the Main Event. Once the Main Event started I got my KX™450F out of the gate really well, avoided the incident on the first lap and then made the pass into the lead. From there I just didn’t feel exactly how I needed to get the job done. I’m looking forward to next weekend and will build off what I learned tonight.”

 

Tyler Bowers: “Tonight was an improvement. I felt really good in practice and had a good plan for the night, which paid off with a heat win. I tried to stick with the same plan and keep it smooth for the Main Event, when I decided to make my move for the lead I made a mistake and went down. I picked myself up and fought back for as many points as possible. All things considered I’m happy to have my Heat Race win, next up is the Main Event.”

 

Ryan Dungey: [On setting record with 26-straight 450SX podiums] “It’s cool; it’s an honor. As a little kid I worked hard to get in that position. I have a lot of people that helped me along the way, and I’ve always dreamed of being in the category of Ricky [Carmichael], [James] Stewart and [Chad] Reed and anybody else that threw a leg over a dirt bike. It’s a pretty big honor, and tonight the track was tough. We were pushing it trying to catch Kenny [Roczen] and I made a little mistake. I would of rather been trying and made a mistake than just putzing around. Third place is not too bad tonight.”

Third place was Ryan's worst finish since February of 2015, but it was enough to put him on top of the record books for the most consecutive podiums (26) in the history of the sport. Congrats to the #1!
Third place was Ryan Dungey’s (right) worst finish since February of 2015, but it was enough to put him on top of the record books for the most consecutive 450SX podiums (26) in the history of the sport. Congrats to the #1!

Jeremy Martin: “I was a little nervous lining up out wide, but the inside was just too far in. I was like, “You know what, I’m going to line up just outside these guys, and I’m going to get it done” I felt like I was the first one into the first turn tonight, but someone had all their weight on me. I tried and I was leaning like this [leaning on the other rider]. Unfortunately, I took out my teammate A.P. [Aaron Plessinger] and I feel really bad, but we were able to get up from last and charge our way to second. I had a lot of close calls. I almost landed on Arnaud Tonus so I had a few uh oh moments, but we were able to pull through for a second. Like you said, you’re able to win Championships on your bad days.”

 

Cole Seely: “I felt good tonight and was happy to be back racing up front with those guys. I haven’t been able to run with the front pack in a while so it was nice to be back up where I feel like I can run. The next step would be to get back on the podium so we’ll see what happens next week in Detroit.”

 

Arnaud Tonus: “The weekend had its ups and downs. I rode a little tight early on but started to get my rhythm later in the day. In the Main Event I was forced off track on the first lap and from that point on I had a few issues due to the crash that were holding me back. I’m looking forward to Detroit and moving forward.”

Marvin Musquin has found his groove in the 450SX class. The Toronto marks the third-straight podium for the #25.
Marvin Musquin has found his groove in the 450SX class. The Toronto marks the third-straight podium for the #25.

Marvin Musquin: “It was good to be on the podium two weekends in a row. Today, I thought it was going to be a little bit different. It was a tough track. It was slippery, big rhythm sections and it was really important to time those sections right. That was a real track to me. It was rough, many rhythms, whoops and everything on this track. I thought I was going to get a good start and I had a great line, but I messed up the start. Then I kind of fought through the pack and unfortunately there was a big crash—I was afraid to ride over [Justin] Bogle. It was close, and it was a good thing I was able to ride around the crash. Then I was like maybe fifth, and I was able to pass [Cole] Seely and get by [Eli] Tomac. It was great to be able to make those passes and running behind [Ryan] Dungey. It felt great, and unfortunately he went down and gave me second place.”

 

Matt Bisceglia: “It feels really good just to come here on this first year team: Mad Racing / Yoshimura / Suzuki. These guys have done so much over the past two or three months just getting us ready so we can be able to compete at this level. It was a long offseason for me. I had a couple of injuries, and it was about four and a half weeks ago I was in the hospital getting surgery—it’s a miracle I’m even here. For the first couple of rounds I was ready and I’m just ready week by week.”

 

Jake Weimer: “My night was good. After the last couple of weekends, it was definitely a success. I was better in practice. I rode better all day than I have the last couple weeks. My starts were bad, though, which made the racing part difficult. But, overall I’m happy. That was an improvement over the last couple weeks. It was a step in the right direction so I’ll take it.”

 

Blake Baggett: “I was hoping to get a top-10 and I came up just short in 11th. It was near carnage in the first turn. I almost went down when I got into the back-end of (Chad) Reed. Then I got into the back-end of Bogle when he went down and got stuck. All in all, I’m just trying to get better each weekend. We’re doing some good testing now and hopefully we can keep improving and try to get into that top-five and maybe on the podium before Supercross is over; and then head into the outdoors.”

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.