Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen continued his impressive debut season in the Monster Energy Supercross Series 450 class finishing second behind Chad Reed when the competition returned to Anaheim for the third time in five rounds. Roczen, who has a 1-3-2 result for the three outings at Anaheim, is third in the championship, trailing the leader by seven points.
But what was a good day out for the team’s German rider, teammate Ryan Dungey had mixed fortunes when after a spectacular first half of the race, he crashed and had to retire with a technical issue. Dungey was awarded twentieth place for a single point and is now sixth in the standings.
Roczen got away to an early lead in the first 450 SX heat, converted it to the win for the top transfer spot in the main event. Dungey was seventh at the start of heat two and moved up to third by the checkered flag to qualify for the main.
On his KTM 450 SX-F Roczen went out hard and fast when the gate dropped for the main and was third at the first corner while Dungey was in ninth but quickly sprinted up to fifth by lap three. Meanwhile Roczen closed down on Ryan Villopoto and made the pass through the whoop section to move into second place.
With 17 laps still to go, Roczen concentrated on chasing down leader Chad Reed, always hovering around a bike length behind the veteran. But while Reed and Roczen were battling out front, a pack of five top riders were jockeying for positions a few bike lengths behind, essentially creating a five-way battle for the lead.
Dungey was in the mix and pressured James Stewart for the first ten laps. He made a pass in a corner after a triple but after moving up to fourth place, he then crashed out coming out of the whoops, damaging his clutch in the process nd was unable to finish the race.
The DNF was a huge disappointment for Dungey who had been impressive on the track, was making aggressive passes throughout the race to claim each position. He was the only rider to triple, quad into a rhythm section on the back half of the track and that allowed him to reel in Stewart prior to making the pass. Dungey was eventually credited with 20th position.
On the final lap of the race, the two leaders had the crowd on their feet as Roczen began to close on Reed. He came up a bike length short at the flag and had to settle for second, but the German racer continues to be impressive in the senior class.
Next Round: February 8, 2014 – San Diego, CA
Results 450SX class Anaheim 3
1. Chad Reed (USA), Kawasaki, 21:37:093 (20 laps)
2. Ken Roczen (GER), KTM , +0.918 sec
3. Ryan Villopoto (USA), Kawasaki, +9.845
4. Justin Barcia (USA), Honda, +17.449
5. Weston Peick (USA), Suzuki, +25.890
Other KTM
9. Andrew Short (USA), KTM, +42.242
10. Ivan Tedesco (USA), KTM, +47.025
18. Matthew Goerke (USA), KTM, 1 lap
DNF Ryan Dungey (USA), KTM, 12 laps
Standings 450SX class after 5 of 17 rounds
1. Villopoto, 104 points
2. Reed, 102
3. Roczen, 97
4. Justin Brayton (USA), Yamaha, 86
5. James Stewart (USA), Suzuki, 80
Other KTM
6. Dungey, 76
8. Short, 61
11. Tedesco, 38
19. Goerke, 20
- KTM's Official Press Release
Supercross LIVE interviewed Ken Roczen after the race
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