2020 Arlington Supercross | Ken Roczen GoPro Onboard
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2020 ARLINGTON SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE
Time for more GoPro videos from the 2020 Arlington Supercross. The revolutionary camera company is back on board as a sponsor to the Monster Energy Supercross Series and key riders in the field, which means we’ll get plenty of point of view footage through the seventeen-round championship. Here are clips and remarks from Ken Roczen’s perspective during 450 Race One and Race Three at the Triple Crown.
KEN ROCZEN | 450 RACE ONE
Roczen opted for a gate to the inside of the dog house, which allowed him to take a tight line through the first turn and sneak to the front of the pack while other riders went wide from the high-speed straightaway.
Second to Cooper Webb on the opening lap, Roczen didn’t seem to be rattled or in a hurry, but waited for a passing opportunity in the turn after the whoops, made the move, and sped off with the top spot.
It’s rad to hear the Team Honda HRC CRF450R blast across the top of the fresh whoops, as the “dat-dat-dat” of engine and suspension go in sync. Roczen isn’t one to rev the bike and you can hear the bike just lug down the track as he hit his marks and rode off to the moto win.
KEN ROCZEN | 450 RACE THREE
Roczen stayed in that same general area of the starting line for Race Three and did the same move as before, which kept him close to the inside of the first turn and allowed him to snag a top-five start.
We’re always interested to see how aware racers are of their surroundings and that’s something you can see here with Roczen. After a good run down the long rhythm lane, Roczen looked over to make sure that Justin Hill wasn’t too close, then moved to the right and blocked the inside line to secure third place.
Roczen latched on to Jason Anderson in the opening laps and followed the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider’s lines around the track. You can see that both riders cut the corners tight and low, which allowed them to get around Blake Baggett for key spots. But, there’s a risk that comes from riding that way and you can see the near-collision that Roczen had with Zach Osborne in the bowl turn before the whoops.
Eli Tomac’s push in Race Three had a huge impact on the night’s results and you get an up-close look at the way the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider makes passes and closes off competitor’s lines. Tomac got a very good drive out of the bowl turn and over the dragon back, which allowed him to get just ahead of Roczen and set up his pass. Tomac faded to the left on the face of the jump and scrubbed the triple, which forced Roczen to check up and double the jump. We’ve heard and seen some backlash about this move, but Roczen didn’t seem too upset and knows this is how Tomac makes moves.
Roczen dove to the inside of Osborne at the start of the endzone rhythm lane and once ahead of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider, Roczen went to the left and took control. The last part of the race was similar to the start, with Roczen and Anderson side by side in a battle for position. Anderson blocked the lines and kept Roczen at bay, but a mistake at the end of the whoops shot Anderson off of the track and into the Tuff Blocks. From there, Roczen rode to a solid second-place result and second place overall on the night.
