Image: Octopi Media.

A commanding second-consecutive victory from Ken Roczen in Indianapolis sees the Team Honda HRC rider begin to take control in 2021 Monster Energy Supercross, as Colt Nichols made it three in a row in 250SX East.

At the start, Justin Barcia rocketed his TLD Red Bull GasGas MC 450F off the line to grab the holeshot with an aggressive Roczen just behind.

Roczen didn’t wait long, taking the top spot quickly and setting out on a blistering pace with clean air in front of him. Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) settled into third, with Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) just behind.

Further back, Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) went to work after a rough start, going from eighth place to fifth in a lap with 16 minutes left on the clock. Friese found himself on the ground after running inside the top five, dropping the MotoConcepts rider to the back of the pack.

Shortly after, Tomac would put a move on Plessinger for the four spot, as Roczen continued to set a rapid pace, stretching out a seven-second lead over Barcia. Tomac then began asking questions of his teammate for third and he didn’t wait long to pull the trigger – sliding up the inside and nearly making contact to take the position.

This kicked off a chain of events for Cianciarulo that would see him drop down the order. After a few laps of pressure, Plessinger forced him into a bobble and snuck by, Malcolm Stewart (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) then following him past.

Next, Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) found his way by and into the top six. He followed that up by getting to the inside of Stewart with the latter of the two making a big mistake, crashing and falling to 10th. Tomac’s points-salvaging charge continued, as he found the back of Barcia with three laps to go.

The battle began to heat up for the second spot, Tomac showing a wheel on multiple occasions with no success. By this time, Roczen’s lead had ballooned to over 10 seconds with just two laps left. He’d go on to take the checkered flag and secure the win, grabbing back-to-back victories in Indianapolis.

Barcia managed to hold on for second place, with Tomac finishing just behind him for the final step on the box. Webb was able to regain for fourth, followed by Plessinger who grabbed his best finish of the season with fifth, over 10 seconds ahead of Cianciarulo.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne clawed his way back after another tough go off the line, ending the night just in front of Joey Savatgy (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS), who capped off a solid day with an eighth place. The final two spots in the top 10 were claimed by the Stewart and teammate Dylan Ferrandis.

Roczen leads the championship by 13 points over Webb following the first five rounds, with defending champion Tomac a single point further back in third.

Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Nichols increased his 250SX East advantage with a third-straight victory at Indianapolis 2, leading another 1-2 for the factory team.

There was drama before the gates even dropped as Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) opted not to start after a bruising day and Mitchell Oldenburg (Muc-Off Honda) was drafted in.

Once things did get underway, Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) launched out of the gate for his first holeshot of the year with Nichols and teammate Christian Craig directly behind.

A first turn pile-up collected the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki of Jo Shimoda, sending him to the back of the pack. Kevin Moranz (KTM) took the fourth spot early ahead of Oldenburg and Thomas Do (KTM).

Shimoda then put his head down and went on a charge, cracking the top 10 after just five minutes, while up front Craig began to reel in his title-rival Nichols for second place.

A crash by Max Miller (KTM), as he went a lap down, nearly collected the leader Mosiman, allowing Nichols to go by and the points-leader quickly opened up a gap of three seconds. Moments later Craig found his way passed Mosiman, making a quick and clean pass.

The charge of Shimoda continued as he reached the fourth spot, but the gap to the top three was above 30 seconds by the time he made it inside the top five. Lapping into that top five, Nichols set a pace that couldn’t be matched and would go on to take the win by 5.7s over teammate Craig and Mosiman – the checkered flag flying a lap too soon.

Shimoda maintained fourth after a fantastic recovery as Grant Harlan (Honda) grabbed the first top five finish of his career. Jeremy Hand (Honda) brought it home in the sixth position followed by Joshua Varize (KTM), Josh Osby (Phoenix Racing Honda), Logan Karnow (Kawasaki) and Moranz rounding out the top 10.

Five rounds into the season, Nichols now leads by 11 points over Craig and Mosiman has climbed to third. Monster Energy Supercross will continue with the third-consecutive round at Lucas Oil Stadium this Saturday.

Detailed Results