Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/588372
P140 BY STEVE BAUER CN III FRIENDLY FIRE I watched Ken Roczen win the Monster Energy Cup Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. He rode his ass off on his KYB-suspended—at least forks—RCH Racing Suzuki, beat- ing a robust field of riders on a high-speed track designed by his boss, Ricky Carmichael, to be a hybrid mixture of motocross and Supercross. The German wunderkind was back on his A- game, winning two out of three main events and a cool hundred grand for his efforts. Jason Anderson softened the humiliating sting of a Joker Lane faux pas in the first main event by nailing all three main event holeshots on his factory Husqvarna and winning the keys to a brand new 2016 Toyota Tun- dra in the process. That is what I call instant redemption! There were plenty of other in- teresting things going on: some predictable, some surprising. Trey Canard went by Anderson for the lead on the first lap of the first race and looked like a man on a mission (pun intended) for maybe half a lap, when he (pre- dictably?) lost the front end while going into a snotty, banked, left-hander approximately 35 mph too fast. Canard struggled to his feet just in time to see James Stewart and his Suzuki RM-Z450 slide up to him, while doing a perfect imitation of a speedway bike lay-down. Despite his excellent form in avoiding Trey, Stewart later aggravated an injury to his right wrist from earlier in the day. He wisely called it a night and must now wait until January to get some redemption of his own. Last weekend's win at the Red Bull Straight Rhythm was im- pressive, but Stewart's laptimes during qualifying support the idea that no matter how many practice laps you put in, there is no substitution for racing. Eigh- teen months is a long time off to recover from, but if anyone can do it, he can. Chad Reed was certainly no- table, decked out in blue again and pitting out of Factory Yama- ha's "bLu cRU" amateur support semi. "Reedy" clearly has some work left to do before he will be ready to challenge for podiums. Davi Millsaps was there on a KTM with a big number 1 on it, signifying his status as the reign- ing (one-race) champion. Davi followed his win here last year with one of his most miserable Supercross seasons ever. I'm not sure if this counts as Mill- saps' first, or second time riding for KTM, since he never actually raced one back in 2013. Martin Davalos crashed early in race one and limped off the track, while Dean Wilson crashed hard in the second main and did not return. Both of these riders have been plagued with injuries during their careers and I'm hoping they are both all right. The MEC is a unique event and I like the way the folks at Feld are willing to try new stuff with the track designs. Whether it's an elevated starting gate like the one this year, or a really, really, really elevated gate they say they are going to use next year, I am all for changing up the tracks. I also like the added incentive, pressure and drama of the potential million-dollar payoff, even though Ryan Villopoto was the only rider since Carmichael with the confidence and ability to go grab it. That said, the Monster Energy BEFORE THE MEC THERE WAS THE U.S. OPEN