News 1 Mar 2020

Roczen dominates Atlanta main event to level championship lead

Atlanta 250SX East win strengthens Sexton's points lead

Image: Octopi Media.

The points at the top of the 450SX standings have been levelled after Ken Roczen dominated Atlanta’s ninth round of Monster Energy Supercross.

The Team Honda HRC rider grabbed the hole-shot and never looked back as he went onto record a stunning 13.612s over Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia, which now sees him share the points lead with Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki).

There was chaos unfolding behind Roczen, as Tomac went down after an aggressive pass on Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) in the early stages, while a pile up later in proceedings caught out Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing), Vince Friese (Smarttop Bullfrog MCR Honda) and Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing).

Martin Davalos (Team Tedder KTM) held a podium position until the final lap, where he was ultimately passed by reigning champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Tomac to finish in fifth.

Justin Hill claimed sixth (Smarttop Bullfrog MCR Honda) followed by Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing), Malcolm Stewart (Smarttop Bullfrog MCR Honda), Friese, and Wilson. Australian Chad Reed (Mountain Motorsports) was 15th.

Image: Octopi Media.

Reigning champion Chase Sexton has taken sole possession of the 250SX East points lead after claiming a commanding victory at Atlanta’s third round of the series.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire secured the hole-shot and early lead, controlling the field for the opening laps of the main event meanwhile fending off Sexton, who was also in the midst of a battle with Shane McElrath (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing).

McElrath actually made the pass on the Sexton, however the number one made the pass back before going onto make an aggressive yet fair move on Hampshire for the lead.

Jeremy Martin (Geico Honda) was in the mix during the opening half, however an error by Hampshire left tuff-blocks on the circuit, and the number six was caught out by the debris and crashed heavily as a result. He remounted for 19th.

In the end, Hampshire secured runner-up honours ahead of McElrath, while the top five was rounded out by Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and rookie Jo Shimoda (Geico Honda).

Enzo Lopes (Yamaha) was sixth followed by Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Nick Gaines (Yamaha), Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing), and Josh Hill (Yamaha).

Monster Energy Supercross heads to Daytona, Florida, next weekend.

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