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/671116
SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD ROUND 15 / APRIL 23, 2016 GILLETTE STADIUM / FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS P48 450SX ALL ROCZEN After three runner-up finishes to Dungey in the last three races, Roczen wanted to win more than ever with the extra incentive of keeping the championship race alive, and he looked good all day long on the ever-changing track. An unexpected early morning light rain left the track a muddy mess in the two qual- ifying sessions. Clouds eventually gave way to sunshine and the track quickly improved but gnarly ruts and dangerous grooves developed on the faces of the many of the jumps, keeping the riders on their toes all day. Even though Dung- ey was the quickest qualifier, Roczen was just less than a 10th of a second back in third (Trey Canard squeezed in between both riders). Dungey and Roczen were seeded together in the second heat race, which was quickly red-flagged due to a gate malfunction. Before the flag came out, Roczen had passed holeshotter Dungey for the lead. The restart was a carbon copy of the first, with Dungey shooting into the lead and Roczen passing him before the end of the first lap. Roczen went on to win with two seconds to spare. And the exact same thing happened in the main event—Dungey nabbed another holeshot but Roczen again passed him before the lap was over. Roczen obvi- ously wanted the win badly and wasn't going to be denied this time. Once he got out in front, the writing was on the wall and he would go on to record his fourth win of the season. Dungey has eight wins. Even though Dungey stayed close to Roczen for a while, the defending champ seemed content not to race him too hard for the lead on such a treach- erous track. The consequences of a big crash were just too much to risk at this point in the season; the champion- ship had to be in the back of his mind, even though he said later on that he just plainly got beat. Dungey even seemed not to want to mess with Eli Tomac, who was on the gas and very much inspired after getting a rare good start. Dungey surrendered third to the Kawasaki rider and even dropped to fourth when Jason Anderson came calling, which put Dungey's streak of 30 podium finishes in jeopardy. Dungey, who trains with Anderson, felt comfortable dicing with him and eventually passed the Rock- star Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team rider back without a fight and then held on to third. After the race, Ander- son said he lost the use of his front brake because of a bent rotor, which might explain why Dungey was able to get him back so easily. "They all can't go your way. Ken and Eli were going good tonight," Dungey said. "They were hanging it out and I had nothing for them. Tonight we knew there was a possibility for the cham- pionship but we lost a little bit but it's okay. We'll rebound and get back to it." Sure, Dungey (1) could've clinched the title in Foxborough but it was no sure thing, not the way Roczen has been riding as of late. Next week in New Jersey, however, is a different story.