Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan hosted Round 11 of the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.
The dirt provided great traction on a track notable for its widely-spaced whoops. The challenging obstacle impacted nearly every race as riders balanced aggression and precision through the unforgiving section.
Roczen (94) was impressive from the moment the riders hit the track inside Ford Field. Roczen emerged from the first qualifying session with the fastest lap time and followed that by matching his season-best results in the second and overall qualifying spots. In his heat race, Roczen crossed the holeshot stripe outside of the top five then quickly advanced through the pack. While setting the fastest times in track Sectors 2, 4, 6, and 9, Roczen delivered a second-place heat race result. In the main event, Roczen launched off the gate, then used his Suzuki RM-Z450’s strong torque to earn a second-place start. With less than two minutes off the race clock, Roczen took over the lead and secured the position with a clean blitz through the whoops. Roczen quickly pulled a three second gap over the rest of the field then managed the race from the front. On his way to his second win of the season, Roczen again topped several track sections with the race’s fastest times through track Sectors 4, 5, and 9. Roczen was nearly flawless on a track that bit several of his competitors. When the dust settled, Roczen had gained 17 points toward the title chase lead with six rounds remaining.
“We knew what we had to do; it was obvious that being 31 points down we had to start to execute a little bit,” said Roczen after the win. “So, it was kind of fun to be in this little bit of a pressure position. And we made it happen tonight. We just had a really good day all day; I do have to say that [the track] was overall the trickiest in the main event. But we executed it; we got a good start and I just hung in there… I don’t feel like I was the fastest in the beginning necessarily, but it was tricky. The whoops got really beat up, it was rutty, it was kind of grabby, and certain sections were a bit technical. But we hung in there, 20 + 1, so it was an amazing win for us. And it’s just fun to keep these dreams alive and it’s fun to be in that position. I’m just trying to let it set in, sit down a little bit and, after the race/before the race, we’ll be excited to go again next weekend and have fun with it.”
Colt Nichols (45) was pinched off entering the first corner of his heat race and emerged in 15th place at the holeshot stripe. Nichols wasted no time and had his Suzuki in a qualifying position by the time the riders had reached the green flag. Nichols continued his march forward, gaining two more spots through the six-minute plus one lap race. In the main, Nichols delivered a steady ride and moved inside the top-fifteen just before the race’s midpoint. A crash late in the race, and an unintentional infraction, delivered results that don’t reflect Nichol’s impressive speed in the second half of the season.
“Detroit was a struggle. I felt a little off all day, to be honest,” admitted Nichols. “I don’t have any excuses. I just was kind of on the struggle bus. I crashed on the last lap of the main. I think I got docked as well for jumping on a red cross [flag], so [it was] just a really, really rough day. [I’ll just] wipe it from the memory and try again next week.”
The series lines the races up again on Saturday, April 4th inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Suzuki riders and team members are invigorated by Roczen’s Detroit win and the stride in points toward another Supercross championship for Suzuki.
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