Racing

Ken Roczen's Day At Unadilla Motocross | MX 2016

Ken Roczen went 1-1 for 1st overall at round 10

August 18, 2016

Ken Roczen had another great day where he went 1-1 again in the 450 class. It was business as usual as he pulled away from the competition, and took the wins in both motos for his eighth overall victory of the season. Ken has been able to win no matter how good or bad his starts have been all summer. We will try to break down what he might be doing different then his competition to be able to win 8 out of 10 outdoor Pro Motocross Nationals.

Ken Roczen came out in the first timed session, surveyed the track on his first lap, then went on a hot lap during the second lap. Roczen had a recorded time of 2:24.524 for the session. He did try to throw down another heater on lap 3 but came up short with a time of 2:26.813. The track was wet and a little muddy from the rain on Friday. Roczen takes the inside line on the turn after coming out of Gravity Cavity.Photo by Rob Koy

Ken takes one of his cool-down laps to survey the different line choices as the ruts were forming in the first practice.Photo by Rob Koy

In the second timed session, Ken works on his start technique that he will use on the Unadilla track. Ken did three starts before going out on the track in the 15-minute timed sessionPhoto by Rob Koy

Ken has been able to throw down some fast laps during the summer. Here Ken keeps his speed up as he exits out of a rut after coming back out of Gravity Cavity. Ken turned his fastest time on his third lap of the session at 2:16.300 which was 1.856 seconds faster than Justin Barcia who had the 2nd fastest time. If you look under Ken’s fender you can see the team put a mud film so the mud would not stick to the fender. The radiators were covered with the Twin Air mud screen for added protection.Photo by Rob Koy

Ken Roczen has been able get good starts all summer with the exception of a few bad starts. If Ken stays in the top 5 out of the first turn, he usually is able to get into the lead on the first lap. Ken has been a good sprinter for the first quarter of the race, usually is able to gap the field and then slow it down, and pace the rest of the field. Ken’s motive is not to sprint and destroy the field, rather he chooses to get a good lead and pace with the guys behind him.Photo by Rob Koy

One thing that I noticed is Ken stayed low over the Unadilla Sky Shot jump, then gets the rear wheel on the ground and powers his bike down the hill before the next turn. He has been good at keeping up his momentum around the whole track.Photo by Rob Koy

Here, Ken stands up the whole way up this sweeping hill in the middle of the track before going down Screw You. Ken is known to have the best balance and stands on the balls of his feet around the whole track. On the rutted track, that’s a huge benefit for Ken while many of the riders would take this opportunity to rest and sit down.Photo by Rob Koy

This picture says it all. Ken stands around the turn before going downhill to the U turn at the bottom. Ken keeps his momentum at a high speed while Kyle Peters sits through the turn. This shows the incredible balance that Ken has and how he keeps his momentum up.Photo by Rob Koy

Ken Roczen takes off one the the tabletops going back to the start straight. Once again Ken was one of the only riders that stood off the face of this hump. Many would sit and drag their inside leg off the face. Ken Roczen stays on the gas and stands all the way though this section.Photo by Rob Koy

Here Ken keeps his momentum up as he stands on the balls of his feet, balances himself and the bike though the deep rutted turn. In the 2nd moto the track became very rutted and many of the riders were complaining about how the track was not groomed in between motos. Ken did say the track was very rutted but he did not complain about it.Photo by Rob Koy

Ken exits the same rutted turn as the previous photo. Notice how Ken doesn’t put his leg or foot down for extra balance while exiting the turn. This shows the incredible balance Ken Roczen has, and how he is able to keep the momentum going through the rutted turn. This equates to speed and time of the stop watch.Photo by Rob Koy

Ken Roczen went 1-1 for 1st overall on the gnarly Unadilla track. Ken has showed all season that he has the speed, balance, strength and momentum it takes to win on the Pro Motocross Series. If everything goes right for Ken Roczen at Budds Creek he should be crowned the 450 Outdoor champion this weekend.Photo by Rob Koy