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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LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 23 JUNE 10, 2014 P71 (Thunder Valley Raceway is at 6100 feet above sea level), it's still a major concern and it was quite obvious that certain bikes, including the Red Bull KTM's of Roczen and Ryan Dungey, showed a slight advantage in the horsepower department over the rest of the field, which was huge since the big hills at Thunder Val- ley Raceway make it somewhat of a horsepower track. 450 NATIONAL Roczen Streaking It's one thing to get the holeshot and run away with a race but it's something else to start outside the top-five and pass the likes of Josh Grant, Ryan Dungey and Trey Canard to take control of a race, which is exactly what Ken Roczen did en route to an im- pressive win in the second moto at Thunder Valley. He might have duplicated his 1-1 performance of a week ago with a win in moto one, had Stewart not gotten such a big jump on the field on the open- ing lap. At least at this point in the sea- son, Roczen looks like a good bet to claim a 450 outdoor title in his rookie season. For sure, the Red Bull KTM rider was the most aggressive rider on the track, and it aided him during his dominance of the second moto as he forced his way past his teammate Dungey and later around Canard and into the lead for the remainder of the race. After getting outrun on the uphill start straight in moto one, Roczen revealed later that he switched, on-the-fly, to a more aggressive map setting, which benefitted him for the rest of the day. Roczen's performance in the first three outdoor rounds is a vast improvement over his showing in the last half of the Supercross Series, and the German former MX2 champion credited that transformation to experience. Briefly... back in the second moto with a third for seventh overall. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Brett Metcalfe rode well in Colorado but a bad start in the first moto didn't help his overall results much. He was 15 th after the first lap but would eventu- ally work up to ninth. A better start in moto two translated into a fifth- place finish and sixth overall. He is currently fifth in points. "Today was all right, but could have been better," said Metcalfe. "It was difficult to go fast in the pack because there were multiple spots where you had to fol- low the guy in front of you. I think I was fastest when I had a clear track." Metcalfe's teammate, Jake Weimer, was hoping to get his first 450 vic- tory in Colorado, which is where he got his first 250 victory a few years ago. He qualified sixth (his best this season) but a bad start in the first moto relegated him to eighth. Weimer was running fifth in the sec- ond moto when he lost the front end and dropped 14 positions. He got seven of them back, going 8-12 for 10 th overall. "I was really feel- ing good that second moto," said Weimer. "Despite my crash I felt like I regrouped well and was able to sal- vage some decent points. I know I'm a top-five guy and just need to limit the small mistakes in order to make it happen." Justin Bogle might have walked away from a gnarly crash the week before in the second moto at Hang- town, but he said that he took it easy during the week in preparation for the Colorado round. The GEICO Honda rider said before the race, "I was pretty banged up. I took the continued on next page