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/739653
SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY CUP OCTOBER 15, 2016 LAS VEGAS, NEVADA / SAM BOYD STADIUM P84 My Own Race: 1 KEN ROCZEN 7TH (1-21-1) Only a few weeks after officially becoming a member of Team Honda, Ken Roc- zen made his racing debut at the Monster Energy Cup. The CRF450R isn't just new to Roczen, but it's an all-new model for Honda, and neither Roczen nor the team seemed to have much trouble adjusting to it. "I've made very, very small adjustments—just a click here and there," Roczen said. "I feel really good with the bike already, as you can tell. Everything came super natural to me, and we haven't even done most of our good testing yet, so it was great to come out here and see. But at the same time, we've got a lot more in our pocket." Roczen was on his way to sweeping all three mains, along with qualifying first earlier in the day, but a big crash past the halfway point while leading the second main event left him with broken handlebars and a blackened toenail on his right foot. Still, he won the other two mains. He'll be sitting out the Red Bull Straight Rhythm next weekend as his entire team will be in Japan for the Sugo Japanese National, where teammate Cole Seely will be racing. 3 ELI TOMAC 1ST (2-1-4) "It was a pretty typical Monster Energy Cup, filled with excitement; in the third moto especially," said Tomac of the final race of the night. "I was buried on the start and really had my work cut out for me. I couldn't tell who was ahead of me at times, I knew was in a great spot to win but had to keep track of my competitors. On the last couple laps I had to put my head down and go to battle. I made it up to where I needed to be, got the job done and took the win!" 5 RYAN DUNGEY 2ND (3-2-3) It seems a little hard to believe that Ryan Dungey has yet to win the Monster En- ergy Cup. He's come close several times since the first race six years ago, but this just might've been the closest. This was just his second race since suffering a neck injury back in June. "Overall tonight was good," he summarized. "It's been a while since we were on a gate drop with these riders. It was great to get some solid time on the bike and get back into a rhythm—it was a good prep race as we get ready for the season. We have a lot of work to do but the bike ran good all night and we're going to continue to try new things. We're looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 3RD (4-3-2) Marvin Musquin had a strong showing. He finished off the night third overall, which included holding his teammate off for second in the third moto. "It's a huge step for me, I'm happy with the way I rode today," Musquin said. "My starts were not great, I was always getting pushed to the outside and I was losing a ton of time, but I came back and fought so hard. It's only 10 laps but they were long laps. I'm happy to have both of us [Dungey and I] on the podium together. It's always tough to beat Ryan but right now I am feeling closer and closer and I'm glad to finish on a good note today." 34 BENNY BLOSS 9TH (9-8-7) Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM's Benny Bloss got better throughout the day at the Monster Cup. "I struggled a little bit in practice, but made it into the mains," Bloss said. "The first main went a little slower than I would've liked, but I ended up finishing ninth. The second one, I started off slow again, but I felt like I rode pretty good at the end, and I got eighth in that one. The third one, I felt really good, and I started up front and stayed close to those guys and ended up sev- enth. Overall, it was a fun day, and we came out safe, which was a big goal, and I made progress with the team and everything flowed well."