Daytona, FL – Red Bull/KTM rider Ken Roczen put together a solid run under the worse conditions seen this season to earn a 4th place finish for his team at the Daytona Supercross.
Rain throughout the day led to a track that was nearly flooded when the night program began. Riders were turning lap times just under 1 minute and 27 seconds in the practice sessions and by the end of the evening the quickest time was near the 1 minute 40 second mark.
Roczen had a great start in his heat but a crash on the opening lap dropped him to 10th place. He quickly recovered and came back to pass his way into 4th to easily transfer to the main event.
He found himself up front again in the main event. He rounded the first corner in 5th place and immediately set to work pressuring the 4th place ride of Alex Martin. By the second lap he had moved around Martin and began working on Blake Wharton. After another strong lap he was able to triple past Wharton to move into podium position. He remained in 3rd place until the end of the race when he made a small mistake that cost him the podium. He managed to get back into his line and salvage 4th place in a night where many people struggled to finish.
“Tonight was the hardest race I have ridden,” remarked Roczen. “Everything was wet and slippery. It was so hard to hold on to the grips. It was even hard to not slip off my seat. It was definitely a challenge and I am happy to finish safely.”
Next Event: Indianapolis, IN – March 17, 2012
Overall Results SX Lites Class:
- Justin Barcia
- Blake Baggett
- Darryn Durham
- Ken Roczen – KTM
- Blake Wharton
- Jake Canada
- Kyle Cunningham
- Malcolm Stewart – KTM
- Cole Thompson
- Tommy Weeck
- Les Smith – KTM
- Shane Sewell – KTM
- Alex Martin
- Tyler Bowers
- Justin Starling – KTM
- PJ Larsen – KTM
- Kyle Peters
- Justin Bogle
- Jeff Gibson
- Phil Nicoletti
Overall Point Standings SX Lites:
- Justin Barcia – 100
- Darryn Durham – 76
- Ken Roczen – 75
