Moto Cross Racing: Roczen conquers Kegums in MX2

Red Bull Teka KTM’s Ken Roczen on Sunday soaked up all the glory at Kegums in Latvia with two clear moto victories to further advance his lead in the MX2 Championship. It was the German super kid’s fourth consecutive GP victory this season.

Factory teammate Jeffrey Herlings was on the podium in second place after two great rides. He was taken down just after the start of the first moto and found himself stranded back at 22nd in the big field. He put his head down and fought his way back to finish third, then in the second moto crossed the lone in second behind Roczen to underline that these two teenagers are the ones to dominate the championship.

While Roczen stole the holeshot in race two, Herlings was not about to let him get away, even though he had expended a lot of energy catching the pack in race one. He also led the race for a brief period before Roczen again took charge. Herlings managed to hold on to second place despite another small crash in the closing stages but this allowed Roczen to finish almost 14 second ahead at the flag.
The young Dutch rider nevertheless put in a solid day’s ride, his efforts all the more commendable because he had crashed hard on Saturday ramming the handlebars into his face and lacerating the inside of his mouth.

Ken admitted after the race that he did not feel comfortable on the Latvian circuit that other riders like a lot. In Kegums riders tackle a mixed surface: soft sand on a harder base, but with a heavy program the track conditions worsened as race day progressed. Roczen now leads the championship standings with 446 points, 27 clear of teammate Herlings and with five GPs to go the two KTM teenagers have now comfortably distanced themselves from the rest of the field. KTM is also leading the Manufacturer’s title.

Ken Roczen: “It was pretty amazing because I was far off the pace in practice and even though I was pushing hard I couldn’t make good lap times. Then I won the first moto by a good gap and I saved a lot of energy for the second. I got a good start in the second and I let Jeffrey by to check out his lines. Then when there was about 15 minutes to go I put my head down, pushed past him and went on to pick up some good points.”

Jeffrey Herlings: “I showed I had the speed and I came second so I’m not disappointed. I lost some points on Ken but I didn’t lose against Tommy (Searle). My injury didn’t really worry me but I didn’t win because I made some mistakes.”

Factory team boss Stefan Everts: “Ken was back in charge. He rode really comfortably and he stayed calm. He’s doing very well and made no mistakes. Jeffrey also had a really good race, especially in the first moto when he came back from last and showed a good speed.”

EMX2 was also on the race program for Kegums and this resulted in a podium third for French KTM rider Romain Febvre, who also now leads the standings by 12-points.

MX2 Results

1, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM
2, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM
3, Tommy Searle, UK, Kawasaki
4, Max Anstie, UK, Kawasaki
5, Zachary Osborne, USA, Yamaha
9, Jake Nichols, UK, KTM
13, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM
15, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM
16, Jose Butron, Spain, KTM

MX2 Standings

1, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM 446
2, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM 419
3, Tommy Searle, UK, Kawasaki 370
2, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha 343
5, Zachary Osborne, USA, Yamaha 295
9, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM, 207
11, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM, 166
13, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM, 115
14, Jake Nichols, UK, KTM, 1124
16, Jose Butron, Spain, KTM, 94

MX2 Manufacturers’ Standings

1, KTM, 489
2, Kawasaki, 410
3, Yamaha, 389

Credits; KTM news release