LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
2014 title in the 450 class. And
that rider is without doubt Ken
Roczen.
The young German is certainly
in control of the series right now
and he proved it again after his
impressive 1-1 performance at
the Red Bull RedBud National
VOL. 51 ISSUE 27 JULY 8, 2014 P49
Briefly...
Appropriately enough, Mike LaRoc-
co was elected to the AMA Motor-
cycle Hall Of Fame Class of 2014
on the Thursday before the RedBud
National. That is significant since
LaRocco's Leap, one of the most fa-
mous track obstacles in the history
of the sport, is found on the RedBud
course. LaRocco, who was elected
to the Motocross/Supercross cat-
egory, will be inducted at the 2014
AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induc-
tion Ceremony October 17 in Orlan-
do, Florida. "You know, when I was
racing, I was very focused on the
competition, and the fan thing was
a distraction," LaRocco said. "But
now, looking back, I recognize how
important the fans are in making all
this possible. And I appreciate the
support they gave me."
Speaking of LaRocco's Leap, this
year the run up to "The Leap" was
lengthened by 15 feet, and the result
was that only a few of the 450 rid-
ers were jumping it on a consistent
basis and no 250s made it, except
for Christophe Pourcel, who pulled
the trigger once on the final lap of
practice. Ryan Dungey weighed in
after the race. "The run wasn't very
good and not only that we started
going inside in the turn before the
jump because that was the smooth-
est line, all the other lines got really
bumpy and choppy, so it was hard to
carry speed on those other lines,"
said Dungey. "On the inside line, if
you hooked rut good enough from
the inside you could still make it but
it was a very close call."
Christian Craig, who retired from
professional racing before the 2013
season, made a comeback at Red-
Bud, riding for the GEICO Honda
continued on next page
ROCZEN STRIKES IT RICH
