Round eight of the AMA Supercross series at Detroit’s Ford Field played host to the second of three Triple Crown races, and Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen overcame flu symptoms to notch a fourth-overall score via a consistent 5-6-5 race tally. In the night’s first race, Roczen got a poor jump out of the gate and was pinched off heading down the start-straight, shuffling him to the middle of the pack. He made some quick passes, coming around in ninth after the opening lap. Roczen continued his charge forward, working his way into fourth by lap six. Unfortunately, a few laps later a mistake caused him to relinquish one position and take the checkered flag in fifth. The German struggled off the start again in the second race and came around the first turn 10th. Roczen worked to salvage as many positions as possible, making his way into sixth during the 17-lap race. When the gate dropped on the night’s final 450SX race, Roczen launched his CRF450R to a seventh-place start. He struggled to make the passes needed to quickly get him to the front of the pack, fighting the exhaustion that had set in due to his sickness, but he eventually overtook several riders before settling into fifth.
Unfortunately, Roczen’s teammate Cole Seely was sidelined after taking a rock to his sternum during the day’s first qualifying session. The Californian attempted to participate in the second practice but was in too much pain, and he sat out the night show as a result.
NOTES
- On Friday night, Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely joined GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton and BWR Honda riders Tyler Enticknap and Carlen Gardner at Genthe Honda in Southgate, Michigan, for a rider appearance. The Red Riders signed autographs and took pictures with fans before signing a wall in the dealership.
- For the third weekend in a row, teams battled cold temperatures on race day, with a Saturday high of 41 degrees. Due to the conditions and lack of space for a regular pit setup, mechanics and crew were forced to pit in the tight confines of the semi trailers.
- The Detroit Supercross marked the second Triple Crown event of the season, and once again, teams were allowed to send two bikes through tech inspection for each rider. Seely’s mechanic Jordon Troxell had built his spare bike prior to the trucks leaving California, but Roczen’s extra CRF450R needed to be built in Michigan. The work was performed by technician Lars Lindstrom, who had spent time after the previous race in Arlington preparing the needed parts. When it came time for Lindstrom to do the build, his fellow mechanics made a friendly bet that he couldn’t complete the work in under three hours. “It depends who you ask, but I won,” Lindstrom said. “I had almost everything prepped and was pretty efficient; however, I realized after the fact that there were a couple things I could have streamlined more; I had to do a few graphics and break a chain, so that took more time than it needed to. I finished in just under three hours, but if I had to do it again, I think I could drop it quite a bit.”
- Between the two qualifying sessions, HRC Team Manager Erik Kehoe joined Jim Holley and Daniel Blair on “Race Day Live” to discuss Roczen’s and Seely’s comeback seasons.
- Despite a large stadium floor, lap times were low during the day’s qualifying practice. MotoConcepts Honda’s Justin Brayton was the top Red Rider, laying down the third-quickest time of 47.478”. Roczen was fifth at 47.606”, followed by Seely in sixth with a 47.629” lap.
- This weekend marked round three of the 250SX East Championship battle, with GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton showing impressive speed all day aboard his CRF250R, scoring the quickest time in qualifying practice before riding to a third-place overall result with 4-4-2 finishes. Sexton sits fourth in the championship with 60 points.
- This week, Team Honda HRC heads to Atlanta for round nine of the AMA Supercross series. On Friday, the riders will take part in a dealer appearance at Mountain Motorsports starting at 6 p.m.
Press contact:
Mandie Fonteyn // Jonnum Media // mandie@jonnummedia.com// +1 (951) 537-0454
Ken Roczen 94
“I’m glad tonight is over. We were just one point away from another podium, so that sucks but overall I’m still happy. I’ve been fighting the flu all week, so my body didn’t feel up to par tonight. My focus the entire night just wasn’t there, and I was uncomfortable. I just wanted to minimize the damage, and I think we did that with a fourth. We’re still second in the championship and only six points out of the lead. I’m looking forward to having a good week and heading to Atlanta strong.”
Cole Seely 14
“I’m really bummed I couldn’t race tonight, especially because I was feeling so strong and fast during practice. While laying down my fastest time, I got hit by a pretty big rock right in my sternum, which knocked the wind out of me. I tried to ride the second session but the pain was too much and I wasn’t able to hang on. I hate having to make the call to race or not because obviously, the racer in me wants to be on the line, but I also didn’t want to risk further injury since I barely had the strength to get around the track for one lap. I’m going to do everything I can this week to make sure I’m ready to go for Atlanta.”
Erik Kehoe
“You win championships on your bad days, so for Ken to be able to still come away with a solid fourth tonight after being sick all week is great. I know he wanted to be on the podium but we still have half the season, so there’s a lot of racing left. Unfortunately, Cole couldn’t race tonight after taking a rock to his sternum during the first timed practice. He tried to rest up and stretch out before the night show but ultimately made the call not to race. It’s a bummer but we’d rather have him healthy for the remainder of the season than risk him going out there and getting more injured because he can’t hold on.”
Oscar Wirdeman
“If this is going to be our bad day, then I’ll take it. Kenny’s been sick so I think he already didn’t have the energy going into the night, but then he got bad starts, putting him in a tough spot right in the beginning. He had to exert a lot of energy to make some of the passes, and I think he was just worn out. Bike-wise, he felt pretty good today. We made some clicker changes in practice but he was happy in the main events.”
450SX Main Event Overall Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TOMAC Eli | 3 | USA | 26 | Monster Energy Kawasaki | Kawasaki | 1-1-6 |
| 2 | WEBB Cooper | 2 | USA | 23 | Red Bull KTM | KTM | 6-2-1 |
| 3 | REED Chad | 22 | AUS | 21 | Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing | Suzuki | 3-5-7 |
| 4 | ROCZEN Ken | 94 | GER | 19 | Team Honda HRC | Honda | 5-6-5 |
| 5 | BAGGETT Blake | 4 | USA | 18 | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS | KTM | 4-11-2 |
| 6 | MUSQUIN Marvin | 25 | FRA | 17 | Red Bull KTM | KTM | 9-4-4 |
| 7 | BARCIA Justin | 51 | USA | 16 | Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 10-7-3 |
| 8 | SAVATGY Joey | 17 | USA | 15 | Monster Energy Kawasaki | Kawasaki | 8-3-11 |
| 9 | BRAYTON Justin | 10 | USA | 14 | Smartop MotoConcepts Racing | Honda | 2-12-9 |
| 10 | OSBORNE Zach | USA | 13 | Rockstar Husqvarna | Husqvarna | 11-8-10 | |
| 11 | WILSON Dean | 15 | GBR | 12 | Rockstar Husqvarna | Husqvarna | 7-9-13 |
| 12 | PLESSINGER Aaron | 7 | USA | 11 | Monster Energy/ Knick/ Factory Yamaha Team | Yamaha | 12-10-8 |
| 13 | HILL Justin | 46 | USA | 10 | Autotrader/ JGR/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Factory Racing | Suzuki | 13-14-12 |
| 14 | BOWERS Tyler | 69 | USA | 9 | Bowers Racing | Kawasaki | 15-13-14 |
| 15 | BLOSE Chris | 111 | USA | 8 | RJC Racing/AEO Powersports | Husqvarna | 16-15-15 |
| 16 | BOGLE Justin | 19 | USA | 7 | RCH Racing | Suzuki | 14-19-17 |
| 17 | LAMAY Ben | 907 | USA | 6 | TPJ.com/Fly Racing | Honda | 21-16-16 |
| 18 | CHISHOLM Kyle | 11 | USA | 5 | Chisholm Racing | Kawasaki | 17-21-18 |
| 19 | BREECE Ryan | 86 | USA | 4 | None | Yamaha | 18-20-19 |
| 20 | GARDNER Carlen | 805 | USA | 3 | None | Honda | 19-17-21 |
| 21 | CATANZARO AJ | 64 | USA | 2 | JMR Racing | Suzuki | 20-18-20 |
| 22 | MARTINEZ Cole | 68 | USA | 1 | Cycle Trader Rock River Yamaha | Yamaha | 22-22-22 |
