ROCZEN & RCH SUZUKI 1-1 AT THUNDER VALLEY MX

Courtesy of Team Suzuki Press Office

Photo courtesy Team Suzuki Press Office. PC Cudby

RCH Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen scorched the field and earned his third overall victory in as many races in Saturday afternoon’s True Value Thunder Valley National at Thunder Valley MX Park in America aboard his RM-Z450.

The RCH Soaring Eagle/ Jimmy John’s rider went 1-1 for the second time in three weeks and extended his points lead to 12 over defending AMA Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey. In the season’s opening three rounds, Roczen has been just shy of perfect, having won five of the first six motos of the year.

“My day was great,” said Roczen following his eighth career Pro Motocross win. “In the first moto I got an awesome start, shifted a gear and my Suzuki pulled right up there. I was super-stoked to get the holeshot and I never looked back. I just rode a smooth race, had very minimal mistakes and collected a win. We went into the second moto with a strong mentality. I wanted to get another good start and definitely win, but I didn’t get the good start. I actually kind-of hooked a little bit with (Justin) Bogle and his elbow clutched my bike. It was pretty crazy. I tried to make some quick moves here-and-there but at the same time I didn’t try to rush because I knew we had some time to go.

“Overall, I can’t complain. Going 1-1 is a great thing and we’re going into an off weekend so I’m super happy about that. I think it comes at a perfect time because I 100 percent believe that I have another level in me. We have some tricks up our sleeve to get even better so I’m really excited about that.”

Roczen’s RCH team-mate Broc Tickle finished 11th overall after finishing 14th in the first moto and ninth in the second. The solid showing also propelled him from 11th to 10th in points heading into the first weekend-off in the 2016 outdoor season.

“It was an improvement from last week,” said Tickle. “All-in-all I’m looking forward to the break. I think I need to work on a little bit of speed. First moto, I got a good start, finally, but I crashed and couldn’t do anything with it. Obviously that was a bummer. Second moto, the track was beat-up. It was rough and if I’d had a little more speed, I feel like I could have gotten’ some of those guys in front of me at the end because I feel like I was flowing and feeling good. I’m looking forward to the week off and gain some more momentum the next week.”

The riders and teams of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will enjoy a rare weekend break before the series heads to the east coast next week for the Red Bull High Point National in Mount Morris, Pa. 

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