Ken Roczen + Ryan Dungey Dominate High Point MX
Via Promotocross.com
With each passing week in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, Ken Roczen has gotten better and better. His resurgence continued at the UPMC High Point National, as he finally earned his first 450 Class overall win of the season thanks to a Moto 2 victory.
The day opened with an impressive assault from Rockstar Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel. The Frenchman turned the fastest lap in practice – doing it on the final lap on the final session – then almost came out and grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award in the first moto of the day. He was edged out for the distinction by Justin Barcia, but the two riders went back and forth for the lead over the opening lap of the race. Pourcel officially led the first lap before giving way once more to Barcia, who then led the next two laps of the race.
While all that was going on, Ryan Dungey was tearing his way through the top five. Sitting sixth after the opening lap, Dungey was up to second place just two laps later and hot on Barcia’s tail. Dungey made the pass for the lead on Lap 4 and would not relinquish it for the rest of the race, earning his third moto win of the season.
After losing the lead to Dungey, Barcia fell and remounted in sixth. Christophe Pourcel and Ken Roczen each inherited a a position and were left to battle for second place. A lengthy duel ended with Roczen making the pass midway through the moto. The young German finished second, and Pourcel recorded the best moto finish of his 450 Class career in third.
The second moto featured another great start from Pourcel and Barcia. This time, Pourcel got the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award, with Barcia and Roczen close behind. Pourcel led the first lap of the race, while Roczen and Dungey both successfully made moves to get around Barcia and put themselves inside the top three. On the second lap, Roczen took the lead away from Pourcel, who then got cross-rutted and lost two more spots shortly after.
With Roczen and Dungey running in the top two spots, it set up a battle between the two title contenders for both the moto win and the overall win. Dungey kept the gap close and looked like he might be able to make a run at Roczen in the closing laps, but it never materialized. Roczen took the checkered flag, and his 2-1 moto results gave him his first overall victory in 2015, as the slow start caused by a back injury looks like a distant memory.
Although Dungey (1-2) finished second overall behind Roczen, the two tied in points for the day, which keeps the championship lead flat at 37 points entering Budds Creek.
Jason Anderson continued his strong rookie season, passing Pourcel and Barcia early in Moto 2 to settle into third place, where he would finish the moto. His 4-3 finishes put him third overall, giving him his second straight podium finish and his third of the season. The result also moved him up to third in 450MX points, 72 behind Dungey and 35 back of Roczen.
After his best day of the season, Pourcel (3-5) finished just off the podium in fourth overall. Barcia (5-4) rounded out the top five and moved up one spot in the 450MX point standings into fourth place.
It was a rough day for Blake Baggett. The Yoshimura Suzuki rookie was one of only two riders (Dungey being the other) who finished inside the top ten in every moto at each of the first four rounds. Today, he didn’t record a single top ten moto finish. His 34-11 results put him 16th overall and moved him back from third to fifth in the point standings.
450 CLASS OVERALL RESULTS
1. Ken Roczen (2-1)
2. Ryan Dungey (1-2)
3. Jason Anderson (4-3)
4. Christophe Pourcel (3-5)
5. Justin Barcia (5-4)
6. Broc Tickle (6-8)
7. Weston Peick (11-6)
8. Cole Seely (7-10)
9. Wil Hahn (10-9)
10. Fredrik Noren (8-12)
11. Justin Brayton (9-14)
12. Ryan Sipes (13-13)
13. Phil Nicoletti (40-7)
14. Kyle Chisholm (14-15)
15. Kyle Cunningham (12-17)
16. Blake Baggett (34-11)
17. Matt Lemoine (17-16)
18. Jesse Wentland (15-19)
19. Gannon Audette (16-20)
20. John Short (21-18)