Two gate-to-flag triumphs for Ken Roczen in opening MX2 GP
. By Bikeland Staff
Red Bull Teka KTM's Ken Roczen sent a strong signal to the opposition about his intentions in the 2011 MX2 season when he launched his world championship title bid in Sevlievo, Bulgaria with sensational back-to-back wins in both motos.
Now in his rookie year with the KTM factory team, the German teenager was super impressive taking both holeshots and winning the first moto by a margin of 14.66 seconds and the second by even more, 21.4 seconds. He attacked the Bulgarian track from gate drop to flag indicating that the experience he has had racing for Red bull KTM in the AMA SX Lites in the USA during the winter has sharpened his riding skills to perfection.
Ken Roczen said after the race that he "Just wanted to go out in front and do my thing" and this he certainly managed. "I had an awesome race. I'm very happy and everyone is doing a great job," he said. "I hope I can continue like this for the next races." Looking ahead to Valkenswaard, the next GP, Ken said he liked the track and was going to "try my best" there.
Factory teammate Jeffrey Herlings also had a good season's opener. He rode behind Roczen in second place for most of the first moto, only to drop back in the final laps to fifth place. He was a comfortable third in the second moto to finish overall third behind Britain's Tommy Searle.
Jeffreysaid he had been hoping for a second place this weekend and had been expecting to be a bit faster. "Now for the coming weeks I have to work on my speed," he said. "I haven't done too many races so far this year so I have to get into race mode. My main goal this year is to be consistent and to try to finish 2 or 3 in the championship. Everyone is expecting me to win at Valkenswaard but I am just going to do my best - more than that I cannot do." Jeffrey won the GP at Valkenswaard in his rookie year last year with the KTM factory team.
Jeremy van Horebeek, the third rider in the KTM factory team was hoping for top five and indeed finished with equal points to fifth placed Zach Osborne but was discounted to sixth because of the order of his results. The rider with the best second moto results prevails.
Jeremy van Horebeek: "I did expect a little more this weekend but for the first weekend of the season it was good for me. I had two good starts but I didn't seem to find my rhythm all Sunday. I finished 6 and 5 which was okay but I still need to work on some points." Jeremy said he is looking forward to Valkenswaard because although sand is not his favorite surface, he has trained a lot in the sand with team boss Stefan Everts during the winter and he is well prepared.
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports boss: "All the riders are fit and strong and it was a great start to have two GP wins with Steffi (Laier, WMX GP winner) and Ken and to have Jeffrey on the podium."
Factory team boss Stefan Everts was also impressed with Ken Roczen's performance. "Ken did a great job winning and dominating both motos. He's adapted very well and he's coming from getting good results in the U.S. I thought the switch from SX to MX would be tougher but he's adapted very well. Jeffrey's a sand rider so he did well to be on the podium here. In two weeks he will have his home GO in the same so we will see how good he is."
Strong finish in EMX 125
Young KTM riders in the first EMX125 GP of the year also delivered solid results with Italian Samuel Bernardini of Italy on the podium in second place after a 4-1 in the two motos, Belgian Brent van Doninck in fourth place, Briton James Dunn fifth and other KTM riders at places 6, 9, 10, 11 &12.
MX2 Results Rd. 1 Bulgaria
1, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM points (25-25-50)
2, Tommy Searle, Britain, Kawasaki 22-22—44
3, Jeffrey Herlings, KTM 16-20—36
4, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha, 20-14—34
5, Zach Osborne, USA, Yamaha, 14-18—32
6, Jeremy van Horebeek, Belgium, KTM, 15-16—31
Other KTM
9, Nicholas Aubin, France, KTM, 12-12—24
10, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM 10-9—19
17, Pascal Rauchenecker, Austria, KTM 5-5—10
18, Antonio Butron, Spain, KTM 4-2—6
19, Nick Triest, Belgium, KTM, 0-4—4
EMX 125 GP final Classification
1, Simone Zecchina, Italy, Suzuki, points 25-22—47
2, Samuele Bernardini, Italy, KTM 18-25—43
3, Jeremy Seewer, Switzerland, Suzuki, 20-18—38
4, Brent Van Doninck, Belgium, KTM, 22-13—35
5, James Dunn, Britain, KTM, 13-20—33
KTM riders also in places 6, 9, 10, 11 &12