News 22 Feb 2016

Roczen edges Dungey for Arlington Supercross victory

Roczen and Webb claim main event victories in Texas.

Image: Simon Cudby.

Image: Simon Cudby.

RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen captured his second 450 SX Monster Energy AMA Supercross main event victory inside Arlington’s AT&T Stadium at the series’ seventh round.

The German rider scored the main event holeshot just ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey and Smartop MotoConcepts Racing’s Mike Alessi. On the opening lap Dungey made a pass for the lead, however, it would not last long as Roczen retaliated to steal the lead back.

Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely moved into the third position on lap four, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson followed him into fourth place. At the halfway point, Anderson began closing the gap on Seely, eventually making the pass stick to take over the third position on lap 15.

In the meantime, Roczen and Dungey set a blistering pace up front putting on an epic main event performance for over 57,000 fans. Roczen would ride flawlessly, fending off multiple attacks from the defending champion to claim his sixth career 450SX victory.

“It felt great to grab the holeshot tonight, I think we have more wins than we do holeshots,” said Roczen. “Ryan was right on us the entire race, but we stayed tough and brought home the win.”

Dungey extended his 450SX podium streak to 23 races, dating back to last season, and now leads Roczen by 23 points in the championship. Anderson sits in third place, 35 points out of the lead followed by Seely and Eli Tomac rounding out the top five.

Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Chad Reed took a 12th place overall finish in the 450SX main event, a sub-par results for the Aussie former premiere class champion.

In the Western Regional 250SX Class Main Event, GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig took his second holeshot of the year, leading Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne.

Savatgy made a pass for the lead on the opening lap, but Craig struck back to reclaim the lead. On the same lap misfortune struck Savatgy, who entered as the points leader, when he crashed in the whoops while running second

Savatgy’s crash allowed defending champion Cooper Webb to take over the position and Osborne to move into third. Craig continued to put together impressive laps out front, but Webb stayed within striking distance throughout the race.

As the 15 lap main event wore on, Webb began closing in on the lead and on lap 11 he dove inside of Craig to make an aggressive pass and quickly pulled away. Webb claimed the win less than two seconds ahead of Craig with Osborne finishing third.

“I came out of the gate strong and tucked to the inside through the first turn,” said Webb. “Throughout the race I was slowly able to gain time on Christian, eventually making a pass stick to claim the win.”

Savatgy remounted after his crash in last, but fought his way back to a 10th place finish. He dropped to second in the championship standings, trailing Webb now by 11 points with Craig sitting 16 points out of the lead in third.

Australia’s Hayden Mellross was 14th overall in the 250SX main event aboard his 51FIFTY Energy Drink Yamaha and now sits 16th overall in points after seven rounds of racing.

2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Round seven – Arlington, TX

450SX Class results:
1. Ken Roczen
2. Ryan Dungey
3. Jason Anderson
4. Cole Seely
5. Eli Tomac
6. Marvin Musquin
7. Davi Millsaps
8. Christophe Pourcel
9. Trey Canard
10. Jake Weimer, Wildomar
12. Chad Reed (AUS)

450SX Class championship standings:
1. Ryan Dungey 166
2. Ken Roczen 143
3. Jason Anderson 131
4. Cole Seely 121
5. Eli Tomac 119
6. Chad Reed 112
7. Marvin Musquin 92
8. Davi Millsaps 85
9. Justin Brayton 82
10. Jake Weimer 73

Western Regional 250SX Class results:
1. Cooper Webb
2. Christian Craig
3. Zach Osborne
4. Colt Nichols
5. Mitchell Oldenburg
6. Alex Martin
7. Jimmy Decotis
8. Chris Alldredge
9. Kyle Peters
10. Joey Savatgy
14. Hayden Mellross (AUS)

Western Regional 250SX Class championship standings:
1. Cooper Webb 145
2. Joey Savatgy 134
3. Christian Craig 129
4. Colt Nichols 117
5. Zach Osborne 110
6. Jimmy Decotis 99
7. Mitchell Oldenburg 97
8. Kyle Peters 87
9. Kyle Cunningham 69
10. Jordon Smith 63
16. Hayden Mellross 44 (AUS)

Click here for detailed results

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