Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2015 P53 Briefly... For the Yamalube/Star Racing Team, it was a bittersweet day at the Hangtown outdoor opener. Team manager Steve Lamson said it was their goal to have all four of its riders finish in the top 10 overall in the 250 class, and they accomplished that goal with Jeremy Martin winning, An- thony Rodriguez finishing fifth, Aaron Plessinger sixth and Cooper Webb 10 th . The bitter part is perhaps losing Webb for a while with a bum ankle. The AutoTrader.com/Toyota/ JGRMX Yamaha team had simi- lar goals in the 450 class with its three riders—Justin Barcia, Weston Peick and Phil Nicoletti—but came up a little short, with Peick finishing fourth, Nicoletti 10 th and Barcia 11 th . "But we'll take it," said team manager Jeremy Albrecht. Don't look for HRC Honda's Trey Ca- nard return to racing anytime in the near future. He still hasn't been given the okay from his doctor to ride yet, but that could come some time this week. When he does get the okay, he'll still have a lot of training and test- ing to do before he comes back. The earliest could be the Muddy Creek round but that would be tough. Stewart-Less: There were no Stew- art's at Hangtown—James or Mal- colm. James is still fulfilling his sus- pension and Malcolm simply does not have a ride for the outdoors. His earlier ride with GEICO Honda was a Supercross-only deal, but he'll be back next year for Supercross on the red bike. Brett Metcalfe had a strong run at Hangtown, the WMS Kawasaki rider >>KEN'S BACK When Ken Roczen, the defend- ing 450 outdoor MX champ, didn't show up for the Thursday press conference, people noticed, but no one was talking—no one from Roc- zen's Soaring Eagle/RCH Suzuki Team that is. There were rumors of a fractured vertebra, but the team would not confirm or deny, just say- ing that Roczen was just resting up and would be racing on Saturday. Resting up? Didn't make sense. It turns out, Roczen did have a fractured vertebra and he did race. His day started with a couple of very ginger practice sessions, qualifying him for the race. In the first moto, Roczen started near the front, but about halfway through the race he slowed considerably. He ended up finishing 19th, scoring two AMA points. Many assumed he wouldn't even line up for the second moto. How- ever, not only did he line up, but he battled near the front, attempting to pass Justin Barcia early on for third place before settling for fifth after holding off fellow Suzuki star Blake Baggett. It certainly didn't seem like some- thing you'd expect from someone with a fractured vertebra. Team co-owner Carey Hart—who fractured his spine landing from freestyle mo- tocross's very first backflip attempt in 2000—shed some light on it after the second moto. "It was a big surprise," Hart said. "There was no crash. It's a Pars fracture. It's very common in young athletes, gymnasts. It was something that happened when he was younger, probably in his teens. It was the perfect storm and it surfaced this week. We've just been trying to tiptoe through it this past week. Actually he's been going to my doctor that did my back fusion, Dr. Bray. We've just been taking the proper measures, trying to get back on the track, and it was completely touch-and-go all day. Obviously you saw it—from first practice 36th in time, to fifth place in the second moto. So we're all pleasantly happy. We've just got to take it day-by-day and see how we navigate through the outdoor series and just do the best we can." Roczen was noticeably sore after the race, but he was upbeat about how he improved throughout the day. He said the slow progress was primarily due to him testing out how much his back could withstand, and in the back of his mind, he knew Dr. Bray had told him that he couldn't really make it "worse," so as long as he could handle the significant pain, he could race. "It didn't hurt jumping, but for sure into the bumps, into the ruts, sitting down, all that whatever, wasn't feeling awesome," Roc- zen said. "We did do some bike changes and stuff. Even for the second moto, it worked better and I think for how bad everything was, I'm glad I finished fifth or whatever. The thing is just that I'm glad that this weekend is over. You don't want to ever mess with a spine. It was painful, but the good thing was that the doctor said, 'Look, you can't do more damage to it.' And that was the ultimate thing." Roczen should be on the line at Glen Helen for round two. Steve Cox continued on next page

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