First podium for Roczen in Anaheim
In his fifth SX race, Ken Roczen managed to finish on the podium. It had been coming for several weeks, but despite his speed, Roczen often suffered from over-enthusiasm, which caused him to crash. His team manager Roger Decoster had told him to stay calmer and drive more defensively, which paid off this weekend with a third place behind Josh Hansen and Eli Tomac after a super exciting race.
Josh Hansen had a serious fall in the whoops during training and broke his hand. The rumors grew stronger that the championship leader would be out, but Hansen bit the bullet and fought back the pain. He won his heat and later also the final. However, in that final he had to deal with Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen. These three fought a fierce battle throughout the entire match. A small mistake by Roczen meant that he had to close a gap on the leaders in the final phase. The fastest lites lap of the evening ensured that the German could still threaten Tomac for second place, but in the end it was Hansen ahead of Tomac and Roczen. Broc Tickle was fourth and Kyle Cunningham was fifth. Tyla Rattray did not participate in Anaheim after he suffered a serious fall on Thursday during press day and injured his back.
Results Lites Anaheim II
1. J. Hansen
2. E. Tomac
3. K. Roczen
4. B. Tickle
5. K.Cunningham
6. M. Davalos
7. R. Morais
8. B. Rutherford
9. R. Marmont
10. J. Decotis
Lites West standings
1. Josh Hansen – 113
2. Broc Tickle – 105
3. Eli Tomac – 91
4. Ryan Morais – 84
5. Cole Seely – 70
6. Ken Roczen – 69
7. Martin Davalos – 60
8. Kyle Cunningham – 60
9. Tyla Rattray – 58
10. Jimmy DeCotis – 51
In the SX class, James Stewart dominated from start to finish. He emerged as the leader after just 1 lap and opened a comfortable gap of 5s over Ryan Villopoto, who in turn stayed ahead of Reed. Unlucky of the evening was Ryan Dungey, who left the track halfway through the race with a defective chain after a poor start. Justin Brayton finished fourth, Trey Canard fifth and Andrew Short took sixth place on his KTM, his best result of the season. Fabien Izoird, who replaces Jake Weimer at Kawasaki, reached the final and finished 19th. In the championship standings, Stewart is now 5 points ahead of Villopoto. Chad Reeds moves up to third place, already 27 points behind Stewart.
Results SX Class Anaheim II
1. J. Stewart
2. R. Villopoto
3. C. Reed
4. J. Brayton
5. T. Canard
6. A. Short
7. I. German
8. K. Windham
9. B. Metcalfe
10. D. Millsaps
Lites West standings
1. James Stewart – 117
2. Ryan Villopoto – 112
3. Chad Reed – 90
4. Trey Canard – 87
5. Ryan Dungey – 79
6. Brett Metcalfe – 67
7. Andrew Short – 64
8. Kevin Windham – 59
9. Justin Brayton – 57
10.Ivan Tedesco – 48
Photo: F. Hoppen -KTM Images
Also to read
Jago Geerts: “I want to come back to Lommel”
Jago Geerts is working hard to bounce back from an injury he sustained in early March during the opening race of the 2024 MXGP World Championship in Argentina. The Belgian, who at…Andrea Bonacorsi on his move to MXGP: “That was the most difficult decision of my life”
Reigning EMX250 Champion, Andrea Bonacorsi, will move to the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team for the remainder of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship season, replacing…Entry lists MXGP of Portugal
The Motocross World Championship will continue next weekend with the fifth race on the MXGP calendar. In Agueda, Portugal, in addition to MXGP and MX2, the boys from EMX250 and EMX125 will also compete…Tom Vialle is chasing the US title
There is one race left in the US East Coast Supercross Championship. It will take place in two weeks in Salt Lake City, the city that has become accustomed to…
Your reactions