Image: Octopi Media.

Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen notched a perfect day in Colorado, going fastest in both qualifying sessions before sweeping the day with 1-1 moto scores to take the overall at Thunder Valley.

Round two of the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross series saw Ken Roczen find his groove as the German-born rider dominated in all four of his appearances on track today en route to the lead in the championship standings.

In moto one, Adam Cianciarulo put his Monster Energy Kawasaki at the sharp end of the field with Ferrandis in tow. Roczen carved his way through to the lead on the opening lap, and lead the opening 10 minutes ahead of Cianciarulo and Ferrandis.

Cianciarulo then made an aggressive pass on Roczen for the lead and looked to be taking control at the front, as Ferrandis then found his way by 10 minutes later, and set his sights on the leader.

As the clock ticked down to five minutes left, Ferrandis made the pass for the lead with some contact, then checked up Cianciarulo in the following corner letting Roczen close in.

Roczen made quick work of Cianciarulo as Ferrandis gapped them, but with two laps to go, Roczen attempted a pass up the inside for the lead, the Yamaha rider sitting up and going off track, giving the eventual win to Roczen.

Fourth place would go to Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) with Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) rounding out the top five.

As the gate dropped on moto two, the final holeshot of the day went to the Red Bull KTM duo of Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin, but both riders were passed quickly by a charging Roczen, with Cianciarulo in tow and Ferrandis down in ninth.

Cianciarulo would hit the ground early, dropping him to seventh, while Roczen checked out at the front. Ferrandis charged, eventually finding himself in second in the back half of the race, unable to track down Roczen.

Roczen went on to win by nearly nine seconds ahead of Ferrandis, with Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull KTM) taking third in the moto. The overall on the day went to Roczen, with Ferrandis second and Cianciarulo third.

Barcia’s 7-3 finish on the day put him fourth overall as the GasGas rider looks to continue building momentum and stay in the championship fight.

Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) showed plenty of speed as he continues to impress in 2021, running up front all day and challenging Barcia for the podium in moto two. He’d go on to finish fifth overall with 5-4 moto scores.

Sixth on the day was Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) after swapping scores with Plessinger for 4-5 finishes.

He finished just ahead of Christian Craig in what was another impressive outing for him on the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha 450 with 6-7 on the day. Craig continues to round the corner on recovering from a leg injury sustained in Supercross.

Defending 450SX champion Cooper Webb took eighth with 8-8 moto scores ahead of teammate Marvin Musquin with 9-9 finishes as the Red Bull KTM squad look to find some speed in the two-week break ahead.

After a rough start to the season things didn’t get any better for four-time champion Eli Tomac in his hometown race, as he went 11-10 for 10th overall in Lakewood.

Roczen now leads the championship into the two week break, just one point up on Ferrandis as the series moves to Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania on 19 June for round three at High Point.

Detailed results