Red Bull/KTM Factory Team rider Ken Roczen showed he had the speed to run up front for the second weekend in a row at round two of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Lites Series but a string of crashes kept him from finishing on the podium.
Roczen turned in the fastest lap time in the first morning qualifying session and followed up with the second fastest time in the final practice session. His impressive lap times earned him the top qualifying spot in Lites heat #1.
Roczen garnered a 10th place start at the beginning of his heat and began to put on a charge. By lap two he was sitting in 7th when he took the inside line on an outside triple that ended his race. He got massive air as he attempted the triple, casing the far end of the jump and eventually bouncing off track and to the concrete on the edge of the circuit. He returned to his bike but had bruised his heel and decided to return to the truck to get himself and his bike checked out before attempting the LCQ.
The German took an easy win in the LCQ after grabbing the holeshot and leading all four laps. "I did not want to have to qualify to the main through the LCQ but if that is how it goes, I am happy to get the win and the spot in the main event," remarked Roczen.
The teenager showed his hard work practicing starts last week paid off when he rounded the first turn of the main event in 4th position. He held the position until he made a mistake sliding to the outside of the turn after the finish line jump on lap three allowing Martin Davalos to pass by. The next few laps Roczen began to reel in Ryan Morais. As Roczen closed in on Morais, Kyle Cunningham had moved up behind him and soon the Phoenix crowd was witnessing a three-way battle for 4th position.
This battle went on for three laps before disaster struck. On lap seven, Roczen was coming through the sand section underneath the bridge trying to gain on Morais when he tried to cut into a different line and accidentally clipped a hay bale. This caused him to swap out and sent him over the bars. Cunningham was so close to Roczen that he got tangled with him and both riders went to the ground. Roczen was not able to return to the race and was forced to take a DNF for the night.
"I am definitely feeling disappointed. I felt like I had put myself in the right spot to be on the podium tonight and I am upset that I crashed and could not finish. I hit my head a little and felt dizzy and that is why I pulled off. The doctors say I should be fine to race for next weekend. So I will keep trying to work toward my goal of landing on the podium," Roczen remarked.
Main Photo: Ken Roczen
Credit: Hoppenworld.com
