Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 29 JULY 22, 2014 P47 first half of the race, and he was able to get by at the end. I made a few mistakes and didn't have the best line choices." Losing to Tomac in the first moto was understandable, since Tomac was obviously on his game. But dropping to fourth in the second moto was not like Roczen, and it marked the first time all season he has finished off the podium in a moto. "I didn't have the best start on the restart of moto two," said Roczen. "I had a good jump but I got shut off in the first turn, so I rode around in third for a while, then Trey went by and I started going backwards for a while." Roczen was obviously im- pressed with Tomac's perfor- mance. "Eli and I battled last year in 250s, and he obviously was in- jured at the start of this year, but he picked it up quickly and I would say he's fit and he's fast," said Roczen. "He's definitely one of the fittest out there and it's good to have another person to battle." With just four rounds remain- ing in the series, Roczen main- tains a 24-point lead over Dungey in the series standings with Trey Canard in third another 41 points back. CONSISTENT CANARD "It's always a bummer when you get a third and don't get on the podium." That was Trey Canard after this week's race at Millville, but it could apply at either of his last two races. At Millville, the Team Muscle Milk Honda rider went 4-3 and came away with fourth. "I managed to make some progress with the bike, which was good. It felt good to at least run in the top three," Canard said. Though he didn't lead any laps at Millville, like he did at RedBud and Budds Creek, Canard was definitely on pace with the lead- ers, and was quick enough to pass Roczen with six laps to go in the final moto. Canard also passed Dungey early in the second moto, but dropped back behind the KTM duo a short time later. "I think I belong up there, I just need to keep on working and moving forward," said Canard. BEST OF THE REST Josh Grant turned in his best fin- ish of the year with a 5-5 for fifth overall. The JGRMX/Toyota Ya- maha rider capitalized on good starts and stayed off the ground, and is turning into one of the most consistent riders of the top- 10 in the series. "This was probably the best weekend I've had; for sure, it's the most consistent. I got de- cent starts, which helped," said Grant. "If I can get a holeshot I know I can run up there. I think that Kenny's pace, and Trey and Dungey, they're on a pretty good Briefly... have this flowing double-double and a step-up in that spot. For me, that used to be one of the best jumps on the track, so it kind of screwed up the rhythm of the track a bit." Dungey said, "I don't think we have a hill that big anywhere else in motocross," said Dungey. "Coming down, it was some pretty fast speeds, and when you're in second and you're trying to close a gap, then you're risking it a little. It got pretty choppy, and I guess you could say it got pretty nasty." For Ryan Dungey, Millville is a home race, the Minnesota-native saying that he raced Spring Creek a lot when he was an amateur. "For sure, in 60s, 80s, 125s, when I was a kid I turned a lot of laps here," said Dungey. "But when I turned 15, that's when I went down to live in Florida and Texas, so I don't have as much time here; maybe in the last 10 years, I've been here one time that wasn't a national. The course changed a little over the years, but the dirt is the same, though it's got a harder base now." The Motocross of Nations pic- ture for the United States got a little clearer when Ryan Dungey revealed that he's been asked to captain this year's team. Dungey also lobbied for Eli Tomac to be part of the team during the post-race press confer- ence. Bobby Reagan, owner of Star Racing Yamaha told us that the AMA asked the team to check into FIM fuel and sound regulations, which in- dicates the AMA is looking at Jeremy Martin for the MX2 class. The French Motocross of Nations team was announced the week be- fore the Millville race and it did not in- clude either of the French riders who are competing in the AMA series: continued on next page Dungey did what he needed to do—to finish ahead of Roczen, but he gained only two points on his teammate.

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