MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES
VOL. 51 ISSUE 10 MARCH 11, 2014 P45
After that, Dungey tried to
lock back in on Roczen but just
couldn't get close enough.
"Near the end of the race there
were a few key lines, either inside
or outside, and I tried to switch
some stuff up, but Ken got away
a little bit and at that point it was
over."
Having finishing 21
st
at the pre-
vious round in Indianapolis due
to a crash on the first lap of the
race, Roczen seemed satisfied
with his runner-up finish at Dayto-
na, especially after struggling on
the last few laps with his vision.
"I was satisfied with my per-
formance tonight, to get second
place, but I was getting anxious
because I had a strange thing
happen on the last lap," said
Roczen. "I had a lot of sweat in
my goggles and I could barely
see," said Roczen. "I was able
to take my goggles off, but I was
able to make it to the finish."
Broc Tickled With Fourth
Broc Tickle turned in his best Su-
percross performance to date in
the 450 class with a fourth-place
finish. A week before that in
Indy Tickle was fifth overall. The
RCH/Soaring Eagle Suzuki rider
started the Daytona final back in
10
th
and diligently worked his way
forward.
"I just didn't follow anyone
and passed a few guys on the
first couple of laps and got into
sixth, and then Barcia took out
Malcolm and I moved into fifth,"
said Tickle. "After that it looked
like Dean was starting to struggle
TURNING
POINT?
Daytona seemed to be a
turning point for the defend-
ing champ, Villopoto, not only
in his performance but in his
attitude, as well. All day, the
Monster Energy Kawasaki rider
seemed relaxed and confident.
Even though he took a nasty
spill in practice, Villopoto didn't
seem to be affected by the
incident, although he took it
much easier for the rest of the
qualifying session.
"Daytona is always a little sketchy, but this year the
take-offs on the jumps were a lot softer, and it seemed
like they didn't use as much clay on the take-offs. That
doesn't help that situation and guys were going down,"
said Villopoto. "We try to make the track safe but not
make it too easy, and they fixed the problem on the big
jumps before the main, but in
practice there were a few big
crashes."
Despite having a 28-point
lead in the championship
chase, Villopoto's Daytona win
was only his third of the sea-
son, which has prompted some
to say that the field has caught
up with him in 2014. Villopoto,
however, disputed that and
hinted that after winning three
titles he has learned to look
more to the long term.
"I've felt fine all season," said
Villopoto. "I think consistency is important in a 17 round
series, and if you look at everyone's wins, we all had two
wins coming into this race except Dungey and he had
one. I wouldn't say I've ridden great all year, but I've rid-
den good and consistent. And tonight, for sure, I would
say this is the best I've ridden all year, but I don't think
that's unusual given where we're at."
Blake Baggett was back
on form and dominated
the 250 class.
