Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 2 / MAY 25, 2019 FOX RACEWAY / PALA, CALIFORNIA P76 iii My Own Race: 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 2ND (3-2) 450MX Marvin Musquin had a really tough time at Hangtown after a massive crash in prac- tice, and he spent most of the week before Pala off the bike as a result. "Coming from Hangtown, and a rough week with only a little bit of riding on Thursday and Friday, I just didn't have much expectations," Musquin said. "I just wanted to get back to my full potential and my full technique and riding, and that was the case. I felt decent and wanted to be consistent all day. My starts were good, and I put my- self in a pretty good position in the first moto; I was right there. I got kind of lucky when the guys in front of me made some mistakes, and I went to second pretty quick and tried to charge and tried to catch Kenny, and that's what I did. But, unfortunately, I never made it happen; I never passed him, and I got third in that moto. It was a little bit of a bummer. But that second moto, I got a great start; I was running up front and got second. It was just a very consistent moto, and I was happy to get on the podium. The riding was pretty good." 94 KEN ROCZEN 3RD (2-3) 450MX Ken Roczen felt like he had a bit of an off-day but still managed third overall a week after winning the Hangtown opener, so he's in the thick of the champi- onship hunt as the series leaves California. "I definitely was fighting the bike a little bit, and in the beginning, you can kind of manage, but on a track like today, it's not necessarily my favorite," Roczen said. "But I made a couple of big mistakes; actually, that cost me big-time [in the first moto], where I slid out and almost crashed, and obviously Eli was on it. So, I had to make a couple of bike adjustments there for the second moto that I wish maybe I would've had in the first moto. But we grabbed a good start, and I tried to do the best that I could. I wasn't feeling ideal on the track, but we managed it." 21 JASON ANDERSON 5TH (4-5) 450MX "My weekend went pretty good," Jason Anderson said. "The first moto, I kind of just hung in there for a fourth place and stayed with the guys. The second moto, I was riding good, but I didn't really have it in me to up the pace comfortably, so I tried to latch onto third and fourth and do my best to finish strong." 2 COOPER WEBB 6TH (6-6) 450MX After taking the 450cc Supercross Championship, Cooper Webb has been underwhelming so far out- doors, and at Pala, he just didn't have the pace of the top five. "I didn't get the best starts today and just struggled to work my way to the front," Webb said. "I feel like I rode consistently but not at the pace I needed to be at. I'm looking forward to getting back to Florida and getting back into the routine of things this week." 101 FREDRICK NOREN 9TH (9-9) 450MX Privateer Freddy Noren (Sustainable Oil Field Services Honda) had a solid day, finishing ninth overall and ahead of a handful of factory racers. "I believe I was the first privateer, so that's always a plus," he said. "Overall, it was a really good day. I had a good week testing with the Showa guys, and we made some im- provements on my bike as far as chassis setup and suspension, which is good, and I was feeling comfortable coming into today. I qualified 11th, so I started out the day good, and I had two decent starts in both motos—around 10th—and then kind of just tried to ride my race as much as I could and tried to go forward as much as I could, too."