Team Suzuki Press Office – July 26.
RCH Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen turned in a 1-2 performance on Saturday afternoon and came away from the ninth round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship with a solid second-place overall finish.
The RCH Soaring Eagle/ Jimmy John’s/ Suzuki RM-Z450 rider marked just the third time this season where Roczen wasn’t awarded the overall victory, but the top-two showing allowed the 2014 Pro Motocross Champion to maintain his 55-point advantage over second place and overall Washougal race winner Eli Tomac with three races to go.
Said Roczen: “I’m pretty happy. Washougal hasn’t been one of my favourite tracks. I had a great first moto but that was the driest I’ve ever seen the track. Obviously, the sun and the shadows played a role later in the day so that was a little sketchy, too. Eli was just riding a great pace in the second moto so I was just kind of stuck riding in second. I didn’t lose any points to him so I’m glad to have another race done. I grabbed two good starts so overall I’m happy with the day. We’re going into a two-week break so I think that will be handy for everyone. It’s all good.”
Roczen’s RCH team-mate Broc Tickle didn’t compete in Round 9 after fracturing his pelvis last weekend at Spring Creek. As a result, Tickle will be on crutches for the coming weeks and will miss the remainder of the outdoor season.
Roczen and Tomac chased each other throughout the day and much like it has been during recent weeks, the duo were the class of the field. The 22-year-old German was second to Tomac in both qualifying sessions, but when the gate dropped on the first moto of the day, it was Roczen’s turn to show the way. After stretching his lead to over 10 seconds, the championship leader rode at a smart pace to capture his 14th moto win of the season.
