MOTOCROSS
LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 10 / AUGUST 13, 2016
UNADILLA, NEW YORK / UNADILLA MX
P66
450MX
With Ken Roczen holding 55
points over his closest cham-
pionship rival, Monster Energy
Kawasaki's Eli Tomac, coming
into Unadilla, one could have
excused him for backing it down
a notch to insure the champi-
onship. Championships at this
level normally pay $1 million or
more in bonuses, and that's not
to mention the future contract
possibilities they open up. But
instead, Roczen made a state-
ment right away, setting a quali-
fying time almost two seconds
per lap faster than anybody, and
more than 3.5 seconds per lap
faster than Tomac, who qualified
fourth.
Then in moto one, Tomac
did what he had to do—at least
initially—by grabbing the hole-
shot, only for Barcia to sneak by
on the inside and take over the
lead. In the first half-lap, while
Tomac was searching for a way
by Barcia, Roczen just rode
up and passed them both in
consecutive corners to take the
lead. Tomac found his way by
Barcia about a half-lap into the
race, but Roczen had already
set sail. There was nothing
Tomac could do about it.
"It was a good moto," Roczen
said. "I got third off the start,
made the pass happen pretty
quick and then just took home
another win. Got to keep that
focus."
Behind them, Musquin
worked his way by Barcia about
a third of the way into the moto
Roczen (94) is about
ready to pounce early in
the first 450MX moto.