Ken Roczen strongest in 450MX Thunder Valley
Anyone who wrote off Ken Roczen after a particularly difficult SX campaign is worth the effort. The popular German took his first overall victory of the season in Colorado - Eli Tomac's home race! Tomac (1-3) and Chase Sexton (4-2) were on the podium.
Nine-time world champion Tony Cairoli rode to the holeshot in heat 1 ahead of Ken Roczen (Honda) and Justin Barcia (GASGAS). Roczen took command on the first lap, but 10 laps later he was in trouble. Tomac, who came back well from P5, took the lead and won by five seconds ahead of Roczen. Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton and Tony Cairoli rounded out the top 5. Christian Craig (Yamaha) had fallen in the first corner but fought back from the back of the field to tenth place.
Good old Antonio Cairoli also took the holeshot in the second race. And again it was Roczen who immediately took over. After eight laps, K-Roc had to make way for teammate and championship leader Sexton. Sexton had come back strong after a bad one. Behind the Honda leader, Roczen and Tomac fought an exciting duel for second place. Roczen gained the upper hand and was able to take maximum advantage when Sexton made a mistake on the last lap.
Just like in the first series, Cairoli was the best KTM rider. He now finished 4th while Dungey had to settle for P7 for a second time. Chase Sexton continues to lead the overall standings,e but his lead over Ken Roczen has shrunk to five points. Eli Tomac, in third place, follows Roczen with 9 points.
450MX race 1
1. Eli Tomac (YAM), 16 laps, 2. Ken Roczen (HON), +03.197, 3. Jason Anderson (KAW), +06.112, 4. Chase Sexton (HON), +06.950, 5. Antonio Cairoli (KTM) ), +25.167, 6. Justin Barcia (GAS), +26.471, 7. Ryan Dungey (KTM), +27.661, 8. Joseph Savatgy (KAW), +28.422, 9. Garrett Marchbanks (YAM), +54.793, 10 Christian Craig (YAM), +58.470, 11. Aaron Plessinger (KTM), +1:06.684, 12. Shane McElrath (HUS), +1:08.651, 13. Alex Martin (YAM), +1:42.671, 14 .Brandon Hartranft (SUZ), +2:06.091, 15. Marshal Weltin (GAS), +2:10.024, 16. Justin Rodbell (HUS), +2:33.629, 17. Henry Miller (KTM), +1 Rnd.
18. Josh Gilbert (HUS), +1 lap, 19. Tyler Stepek (KTM), +1 lap, 20. Bryson Gardner (HON), +1 lap.
450MX race 2
1. Ken Roczen (HON), 16 Rdn, 2. Chase Sexton (HON), +05.164, 3. Eli Tomac (YAM), +13.230, 4. Antonio Cairoli (KTM), +43.917, 5. Shane McElrath (HUS) ), +49.948, 6. Jason Anderson (KAW), +1:00.183
7. Ryan Dungey (KTM), +1:01.241, 8. Justin Barcia (GAS), +1:01.613, 9. Joseph Savatgy (KAW), +1:25.081, 10. Aaron Plessinger (KTM), +1: 40.106, 11. Garrett Marchbanks (YAM), +2:12.317, 12. Christian Craig (YAM), +2:25.224, 13. Marshal Weltin (GAS), +1 Rnd, 14. Brandon Hartranft (SUZ), +1 Rnd, 15. Henry Miller (KTM), +1 Rnd.,16. Justin Rodbell (HUS), +1 Rnd, 17. Tristan Lane (KTM), +1 Rnd, 18. Bryson Gardner (HON), +1 Rnd, 19. Grant Harlan (KAW), +1 Rnd, 20. Josh Gilbert (HUS), +1 Rnd.
450MX Thunder Valley final standings
1. Ken Roczen (HON), 47 points, 2. Eli Tomac (YAM), 45, 3. Chase Sexton (HON), 40, 4. Jason Anderson (KAW), 35, 5. Antonio Cairoli (KTM), 34 , 6. Ryan Dungey (KTM), 28, 7. Justin Barcia (GAS), 28, 8. Shane McElrath (HUS), 25, 9. Joseph Savatgy (KAW), 25, 10. Garrett Marchbanks (YAM), 22 , 11. Aaron Plessinger (KTM), 21, 12. Christian Craig (YAM), 20, 13. Marshal Weltin (GAS), 14, 14. Brandon Hartranft (SUZ), 14, 15. Henry Miller (KTM), 10 , 16. Justin Rodbell (HUS), 10, 17. Alex Martin (YAM), 8, 18. Tristan Lane (KTM), 4, 19. Bryson Gardner (HON), 4, 20. Josh Gilbert (HUS), 4
450MX Standings after 3 laps
1. Chase Sexton (HON), 134 points, 2. Ken Roczen (HON), 129, 3. Eli Tomac (YAM), 120, 4. Jason Anderson (KAW), 111, 5. Christian Craig (YAM), 92 , 6. Antonio Cairoli (KTM), 89, 7. Ryan Dungey (KTM), 89
8. Justin Barcia (GAS), 74, 9. Aaron Plessinger (KTM), 72, 10. Shane McElrath (HUS), 65, 11. Garrett Marchbanks (YAM), 64, 12 Joseph Savatgy (KAW), 47, 13 Alex Martin (YAM), 39, 14. Fredrik Noren (KTM), 35, 15. Marshal Weltin (GAS), 28, 16. Brandon Hartranft (SUZ), 28, 17. Benny Bloss (KTM), 23, 18 Josh Gilbert (HUS), 20, 19. Justin Rodbell (HUS), 11, 20. Ryan Surratt (YAM), 11
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