Solid Ride for Roczen After Lengthy Injury Rehab
Brea, CA – (August 12, 2024) – The Unadilla Motocross National kicked off the three-race home stretch of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross season. Heavy rains before the event had riders, teams, and race fans anticipating a mud race, but strategic track preparation allowed the Unadilla MX National to present excellent track conditions at the historic, natural-terrain motocross track.
Race Highlights:
Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki
450 Class
Ken Roczen ran in the front pack, holding second place for much of the second moto.
Twisted Tea Suzuki Presented by Progressive Insurance
450 Class
Colt Nichols joined the team mid-summer and showed solid pace at this debut race on the RM-Z450.
Kyle Chisholm delivered a top-20 result for the third consecutive event.
Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki
450 Class
Max Miller earned a top-20 overall qualifying position.
250 Class
Dilan Schwartz battled to a top-15 result in the opening moto of the day.
Preston Boespflug put down fast laps in the 250-class’s second moto.
Leo Tucker earned a top-five result in his first qualifying session.
Ken Roczen (94) ran inside the top ten all day at his first Motocross National of the year. .
Ken Roczen (94) was quickly back up to race pace with top-five results in each of his qualifying sessions to earn a top-five overall gate pick. When the pack rounded the first corner in the first 450 moto, Roczen was in 15th place. He used his legendary first-lap intensity to put his Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki RM-Z450 into seventh place before the first lap was in the books. Roczen held a strong pace to earn a top-ten result. Roczen’s second moto start put him in fifth place at the holeshot stripe. Roczen was brilliant on the high-speed, rutted track and quickly put his Suzuki into second place. He battled with the lead pack and delivered another top-ten moto result to card a top-ten overall.
Roczen’s bold and unconventional personality will make his next move a unique one: he’s planning to compete in the 250 class at Ironman Raceway in two weeks. After that, the German racer is poised to enter into the SuperMotocross World Championship playoffs in a top-15-seeded position even after sitting out nearly the entire Motocross season due to an injury sustained in the Supercross season.
“The first weekend back in Unadilla was definitely exciting for us,” said Roczen. “This was the first pro motocross we have attended this year for me personally, so it was really hard. We had a lot of rain on Friday, and we thought it was going to be a mudder, but since the track crew sealed the track, it actually ended up being fairly hard pack and pretty beat up. On the first race I had a terrible start and worked my way up and finished seventh. I was unhappy with it, so we made some small adjustments to my Suzuki for the second moto. It ended up being better, and I had a much better start in Moto 2, working my way into second until about halfway. I had a train of three riders behind me that were clearly faster; I tried to latch on and stay there as long as I could, but obviously after three months off the bike it’s hard to expect to ride up front right away. But I feel we made strides throughout the day and improved from the first to the second moto. Of course, we always wish we could have done better, but at the same time, it’s somewhere to start. I want to improve the setup a little bit and I’m excited to come back for Ironman on the 250.”
Colt Nichols (45) earned a top-15 moto result on his first ride with the Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance team.
Colt Nichols (45) looked perfectly at home on the Suzuki RM-Z450 at his debut with the team and also his first race of the 2024 Motocross season. In the first 450 A Group qualifying session, Nichols put down an 11th-place result against riders who are deep into their season. Nichols used that speed to earn a top-15 Moto 2 result, and take home a top-20 overall for the day.
“That was an interesting welcome back at Unadilla. Outdoors is very tough,” admitted Nichols shortly after Moto 2. “In the first moto it was a real struggle. I got smacked in the face pretty hard with some reality, and ate a big piece of humble pie. Moto 2 was better; we made improvements on the bike to get it more comfortable for me. I knew we were going to have to do that coming into this race, being the first race of the season for me, and with a really gnarly race track. Overall, it was a productive day, I am super, super happy with all the progress we made today and it’s on to Budds Creek.”
Kyle Chisholm (11) was strong at Unadilla, and remains inside the top 20 in championship points.
Kyle Chisholm (11) was consistent on the rutted, off-camber Unadilla track. He wrapped up his day with both a top-20 moto and overall result. Chisholm remains inside the top 20 in the SuperMotocross World Championship points, which would seed him directly into each post-season race.
“This is a fun track for me, I like it,” said Chisholm. “We had a lot of rain coming into the weekend, but the Unadilla crew did a great job on the track. My first moto wasn’t that great, I had a terrible start. I rode much better in the second moto. It’s still not the results I want on paper, but my riding was much better so I’m happy about that.”
Max Miller (87) used strong speed to nab a top-20 overall qualifying position.
Max Miller (87) was battling forward in the first moto when a crash ended his day early.
“After a good qualifying I had the 20th gate pick,” said Miller. “I started mid-pack and slid out towards the end of lap one. I had a good pace and was moving through the pack when I had a big crash after the Sky Shot. My body is pretty banged up, but I’ll be ready for Budds Creek!”
Dilan Schwartz (40) toughed out post-surgery pain to earn points, and maintain his top-15 spot in the championship standings.
Dilan Schwartz (40), without missing a race, was back on the starting line after a wrist surgery since the previous round. Schwartz brought home a top-15 score in the first moto, but was unable to finish the second moto due to post-surgery pain.
“I really struggled with pain after having surgery after Washougal,” Schwartz shared. “I did the best I could, but the pain was too bad during the second moto, and I had to pull off.”
Preston Boespflug (128) earned his way into the second moto to gain more AMA Pro Motocross experience.
Preston Boespflug (128) earned a first-alternate position with his LCQ result. The young racer was called up to race the second moto and gained valuable experience in his first professional season.
“The track was extremely rutted and rough,” reported Boespflug, “but I was very happy on how my Suzuki tracked and handled in the long ruts.”
Leo Tucker (154) was strong in qualifying, earning a top-ten result in both of his qualifying sessions.
Leo Tucker (154) showed encouraging speed at Unadilla. The young rider unfortunately missed a qualifying spot into the motos after a strong charge in the Last Chance Qualifier.
“The day started out pretty well with the track being relatively dry considering how much rain we had,” said Tucker. “I had a decent first qualifying and was sitting 35th. Unfortunately, the track was faster in the second session, and I barely missed out on qualifying straight in. I had an issue on the line in the LCQ. I started in dead last and worked back to 13th. It was a very frustrating weekend, but we learned from it.”
“We had Ken Roczen back in action this weekend for the first time since the Nashville Supercross. It was an exciting weekend. We also had Colt Nichols making his debut on the Suzuki this weekend,” reported Larry Brooks, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager. “Ken Roczen finished seventh in the first moto and sixth in the second moto. In Moto 2, Ken moved up into second place and was riding pretty well, but his lack of racing lately showed in his fitness. He was a bit tired toward the end and he did finish sixth, earning seventh overall for the day. Colt Nichols, on his debut ride on the Suzuki, finished 17th overall, and our test rider Kyle Chisholm finished 19th overall. It was a fun weekend having three riders under the tent, and obviously at Unadilla it’s always a fun race. We had a lot of rain on Friday, but the track crew and MX Sports did a great job preparing the track for Saturday’s event. The track was immaculate; it was the best I’ve ever seen it, but it did get rough, rough, rough as the day went on.”
“Unadilla was a tough weekend for the Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki team,” said Team Principal, Myron Short. “Leo and Preston had rough times in qualifying, and Schwartz toughed out an impressively strong Moto 1 after coming out of surgery a few weeks back. Max was showing good pace, but a Moto 1 crash ended his effort to add more points to his series totals. Overall we’re happy everyone is healthy heading to Budds Creek. Historically our riders have had some strong results there, so we are expecting a much better showing,” added Short.
The penultimate Motocross round takes place on Saturday, August 17th at Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, Maryland. The Suzuki racers and team members are ready to continue earning great results as the 11-round AMA Pro Motocross season nears its finale, then sends the teams to the three-race SuperMotocross playoff events in September.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
Photos by BrownDogWilson Photography
