Red Bull KTM Factory rider Ken Roczen of Germany on Saturday night secured KTM’s first-ever 250SX championship when he was crowned the Monster Energy AMA West 250SX Champion at the season finale held at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Roczen also won the 250 Shootout of top riders from both the West and East Coast competition.
KTM’s second European 250-class factory rider Marvin Musquin of France finished a close second in the East Coast SX250 competition after finishing third in the final round and he was also third overall in the shootout.
In the 450-class, where the title was already decided in favor of Ryan Villipoto, Ryan Dungey had a good night to finish second in the final round to narrowly miss second place in the Championship standings by a single point.
Roczen arrived in Las Vegas with a five-point lead in the championship point standings. He put in a great practice time early in the day to earn the top spot on the leader board and first gate pick in the main event.
When the gate dropped for the main event, the German rider was in fifth place but had quickly advanced to the top three in lap two. Rival Eli Tomac was in the lead at the halfway point and Roczen knew he had to pass Martin Davalos to win the title. Roczen went on to make it a thrilling finish to what has been a great season when he took the race to the wire, cutting inside Davalos to move up one slot in the final lap. A few corners later he finished the race in second and picked up his first career 250SX Championship.
A very happy and emotional Roczen stated on the podium, “I am so happy for this championship. It is the biggest championship I have ever won. I am so thankful for everyone on my team that has stood behind me this whole season and believed in me from the beginning.”
Roczen then went on to grab his first holeshot of the season in the East/West 250SX Shoot-out. Teammate Musquin was right on his wheel and the two riders shared the lead in the first half of the race. Roczen then started to pull away in the second half to take the victory while Musquin hung on for a podium finish with a third place result.
“I finally got a great start and was able to get out front,” stated Roczen. “It felt great to see that number one plate on my bike while I was racing. It feels so great to get this win and my championship in the same night. This is really unforgettable.”
Marvin Musquin: “I gave it everything I had in the East 250SX main, and just came up a bike length short of the win. I was very tired in the shoot-out race after fighting so hard in the main so I wasn’t able to battle with my teammate for the win. I am happy that I was still able to get on the podium and I am very happy for Ken and his championship.”
Roczen and Musquin will now have a two-week break before returning to racing in the 250 Motocross class at the opening round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Series on May 18, 2013.
Dungey wraps up 450SX season on a high note
Meanwhile KTM factory teammate Ryan Dungey also ended his season in the 450SX on a high note finishing second overall in the final round at the Sam Boyd Stadium in front of a near sold out crowd.
Dungey had great lap times in the early afternoon qualifying sessions to give his top choice of gates in the first 450SX heat. When the gate dropped for his heat, he leaped out front to be second in the first corner. He held on to that position for the first half of the heat as he reeled in the lead ride of Jake Weimer then with two laps to go he made the pass stick to claim his heat win and his choice of gates for the upcoming main.
Dungey, the reigning US Motocross champion also got away well in his main events and was with a group of five riders at the end of the start straight. He was up to third in the first lap and one lap later had advanced to second. From that point on he underlined that he is one of the most consistent riders in this high-flying competition and maintained his second place throughout the rest of the 20-lap race. The result also gave Dungey third place in the coveted championship, railing second placed Davi Millsaps by a single point.
“I just want to thank the Red Bull KTM Factory Team for their continued support this season. We were able to finish third overall in the championship, which is still something to be proud of. We will now focus on our next goal which is to defend our 450 Motocross Championship,” stated Dungey after the event.
250 West Main Event Results:
1, Eli Tomac – HON
2, Ken Roczen – KTM
3, Martin Davalos – KAW
4, Kyle Cunningham – YAM
5, Ryan Sipes – SUZ
6, Jason Anderson – SUZ
Other KTM
7, Malcolm Stewart – KTM
10, Joey Savatgy – KTM
250 West Point standings:
1, Ken Roczen – 185 – Wins West Coast 250 Championship and 250 shootout
3, Eli Tomac – 183
4, Cole Seely – 148
5, Jason Anderson – 139
6, Martin Davalos – 134
7, Kyle Cunningham – 114
8, Zach Osborne – 112
9, Tyla Rattray – 99
Other KTM
10, Joey Savatgy – 98
11, Malcolm Stewart – 88
250 East Main Event Results:
1, Tyler Bowers – KAW
2, Wil Hahn – HON
3, Marvin Musquin – KTM
4, Blake Wharton – SUZ
5, Gavin Faith – HON
6, Vince Friese – HON
7, L Vincent – KTM
8, Cole Thompson – HON
9, D Herriein – HON
10, A Catanzaro – KAW
250 East Point standings:
1, Wil Hahn – 198
2, Marvin Musquin – 195 (second in East Coast Championship and third in shootout)
3, Blake Wharton – 171
4, Vince Friese – 118
5, Gavin Faith – 118
6, Cole Thompson – 96
7, Dean Wilson – 87
8, Lance Vincent – 80
9, Kyle Peters – 78
10, AJ Catanzaro – 73
250 East / West Shoot-out Results:
1, Ken Roczen – KTM
2, Kyle Cunningham – YAM
3, Marvin Musquin – KTM
4, Martin Davalos – KAW
5, Blake Wharton – SUZ
6, Jason Anderson – SUZ
7, Ryan Sipes – SUZ
8, Cole Seely – HON
9, Malcolm Stewart – KTM
10, Tyla Rattray – KAW
450 Main Event Results:
1, Ryan Villopoto – KAW
2, Ryan Dungey – KTM
3, Davi Millsaps – SUZ
4, Jake Weimer – KAW
5, Justin Barcia – HON
6, Chad Reed – HON
7, Weston Peick
8, Justin Brayton – YAM
9, Andrew Short – KTM
10, Broc Tickle – SUZ
450 Championship Standings
1, Villipoto, 371
2, Millsaps, 338
3, Dungey, 337
