Roczen races to podium at Anaheim opener

Ken Roczen raced his Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki RM-Z450 to second place at the AMA Monster Energy Supercross season-opener at the weekend, to kick-start his year with a podium.

 

The four-time Anaheim One winner took a commanding victory in his heat race to ensure a good gate pick for the night's main event.

After a chaotic turn one, Roczen settled into eight place on the opening lap. From there be set about moving up through the field to briefly battle to take the race lead. However, he settled for second place to secure a haul of points and start his season off with a podium finish.

 

"In qualifying I wasn’t where I wanted to be," he said afterwards. "It was a little bit my fault. I got caught in the middle of a lot of people and a lot of time went by. I was mad about it, but I was calm. It’s not where I wanted to be, but I didn’t really care. I know how to race, and I knew I’d be fine.

 

"Sure enough, the heat race went great, and I was really happy with the main. I clicked off some good laps and had a good race. I’m stoked; it was a good podium for me."