Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 19, 2014 P57 My Own Race: 94 KEN ROCZEN 1ST 450 (1-2) Ken Roczen watched his points lead evaporate in recent rounds as his Red Bull KTM teammate Ryan Dungey had a strong stretch of races. Roczen responded with a great outing in Indiana with terrible track conditions. He said he was actually looking forward to racing in challenging condi- tions. "I really enjoy it when it rains. It takes the edge off a bit, and most of the races we have are sunny and in perfect conditions," Roczen said. "It was kind of a little bit different here today. The track was overall super cool, like the layout and the entire venue. I think when it's dry it's going to be my new favorite track. I did what I had to do. I got a great start in the first moto. I pumped myself up because it hadn't been going too well lately. I got a pretty good jump in the second moto, but unfortunately went down two times. I got going again and had a good rhythm, but then got stuck behind a lapper twice in the same spot and that basically cost me the three laps that I had going to close the gap. It takes a little bit of pressure off having a 20-point lead now, but I can't back down. I need to have another good week." 41 TREY CANARD 2ND 450 (3-1) For the second consecutive race Canard came through to win the second moto. He was boosted by the enthusiasm the crowd showed while he was leading. "In the first moto I pulled a pair of goggles and had good vision and was going to make a charge and fell over and stalled my bike," Canard said. "Moto two was awesome. It was a lot of fun to be able to do that. I got a really good start and tried to throw as much roost up behind me as I could. I really felt comfortable on the bike. I had no idea (why the fans reacted so strongly to him leading). I thought, 'Why are they cheering? Kenny must be really close.' I was pumped. It's such a good feeling to come around the track and be able to hear them. It reminded me of Motocross des Nations where all of the fans were cheering us on. For some reason every time I've been in the lead on the last lap all I can think about is Grant Langston fist-pump- ing over a triple and crashing. So I try not to do too much, but it was hard to contain the joy." 5 RYAN DUNGEY 3RD 450 (2-9) While Ryan Dungey scored third overall, his ninth place in the second moto was likely a crushing blow to his title hopes. "The second moto was my downfall," Dungey said. "I got a decent start, but they smeared that mud over and I just seemed to sit and spin in it. I wasn't going anywhere and guys were just passing me left and right. I really couldn't understand that. It was tough in those conditions coming from behind. No excuses though, I tried to do my best to make the passes I could. I got caught up in a little bit of mud and ended up ninth. It's not ideal. The mud kind of threw us a little bit of a curveball. It wasn't a matter of not trying. I did the best I could, but lost some points. It seemed like the mud got tackier and thicker instead of soup like it was earlier in the day. Hopefully we get a good track next week and the weather is good. The goal is to go out there and win both races and get maximum points." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 1ST 250 (3-1) Marvin Musquin picked up his second overall victory of the season. The Red Bull KTM rider seemed to get stronger as the day wore on, finishing with an impressive win in the sec- ond moto. He didn't think his GP experience gave him that much of an advantage. "It can be fun," Musquin said of mud racing, "but it's so easy to make a mistake. Like in the second practice I think I did one lap and I got stuck in the mud and couldn't go anywhere. That can happen during the race. It's tough, but that's part of racing and you never know. I've been in the U.S. a couple of years now and I think I've never raced in the mud. Yes we ride mud a lot in Europe, but I don't think I've had one mud race here in the U.S. I live in California and we don't get any rain there, so it had been a long time." 43 JOEY SAVATGY 2ND 250 (4-3) Joey Savatgy's second overall in Indiana is just another brick in his rebuilding after a long string of injuries. Savatgy tied Jessy Nelson in points for the day, but earned second overall for finishing better than Nelson in the second moto. It marks a solid turnaround for the Rockstar Energy Racing KTM rider after a rough start. "I've been going in the right direction and a lot of it was mental," Savatgy said. "Getting comfortable running with these guys, just knowing that I've raced most of these guys before and I've been able to beat them on my good days. There's no reason that I shouldn't be up there all the time. In the first moto, I was running fifth and then Zach Bell went down. I tried to put in consistent laps, but made a few mistakes. I had some poor line choices. It was cool to lead laps (four laps in the second moto). I led one at Red Bud, but I got shuffled back pretty quick. This time was cool. I was able to pass Jessy and get to the lead. Once I got around him I kind of froze up. I wasn't riding as well as I was when I was behind him, if that even makes sense. Musquin and Pourcel got around me, but I was doing the math and knew I could still get on the box, so that's pretty good." 50 JESSY NELSON 3RD 250 (1-8) Jessy Nelson got a clean getaway aboard his Troy Lee De- signs/Lucas Oil Honda in the first moto and cleared out to earn his first career moto win. Nelson came back to earth a bit with an eighth in the second moto, but still earned an overall podium. "I got a good start in the first moto and that was huge," Nelson said. "It was the first moto win for my team and myself. When I had the lead mentally I didn't want to make any mistakes, just have smooth clean laps. I learned a lot from some of the mistakes I made after lead- ing in Colorado. I was bummed that I got second then, but it made this (moto) win so much sweeter."

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