Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1330864
SUPERCROSS 2021 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 / JANUARY 16, 2021 NRG STADIUM / HOUSTON, TEXAS P50 Despite not having raced since last June, Roczen looked fast and well in sync on his all-new Honda CRF450R, and he quickly reeled in the leader, then seemed to stalk and study Barcia's lines for a while. Eventually, Roczen made a couple attempts to pass Barcia just past the halfway point. Barcia, however, thwarted those pass attempts and managed to stay focused on the task at hand of controlling the lead, which he did perfectly right down to the checkered flag, giving the GasGas brand its first Supercross win in its first Supercross race. (GasGas started out as a Spanish motor- cycle manufacturer in the 1980s and was recently acquired by the Austrian manufacturer KTM.) "That was an insane race!" Barcia said. "I'm glad I did the three-peat; [however], that wasn't the goal, but this is the first one of hopefully many more [this season], and I just want to be in the fight all year and not just a one-hit wonder." Roczen, who looked somewhat "gassed" after the race admitted that he "kind of let it go" late in the race, surrendering the victory to Barcia with a few laps left to go. Roczen, though, seemed happy to get the first race of the season under his belt and come away with a good finish, and more important- ly, healthy, knowing the title can't be won at the first round. Musquin returned to Supercross racing in a big way—finishing out the race on the podium. The Red Bull KTM rider sat out the entire 2020 Supercross season with a 94 KEN ROCZEN 2ND 450SX "It was a really good night for me and the HRC team," said Ken Roczen. "We got second in the heat race and in the main event a er a hard fight with Jus n Barcia. He rode really well, but I never let loose and was right there un l the very end. I think there was a lot of madness going on behind us. The track was brutal; a lot of it was really basic, but half was pre y technical, and it got super ru ed and bumpy. We hung in there and got away with a second place, which is good for the first race. We're in the hunt this season and it's super long." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 3RD 450SX "It's good to be back," Marvin Mus- quin said. "I had a great start in the main event, they were a li le more aggressive than me right away. It's been a long me since I've raced Supercross, but we did everything we could to be ready for the first round. I knew the starts were going to be im- portant and I'm super happy I made that happen and put myself in a good posi on to fight for a podium." IIIMY OWN RACE: (Above) Ken Roczen (94) shadowed Barcia for most of the 450SX main. No one else was even close.