2020 Salt Lake City Four Supercross | GoPro Onboard
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2020 SALT LAKE CITY FOUR SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE
The 450 Main Event battle that Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb had at the 2020 Salt Lake City Four Supercross was excellent and to see two longtime rivals at the front of the pack contesting for a race win that’ll keep their championship hopes alive is something that we’ll remember years after the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series is over. You can watch the highlights of the race from NBC Sports by clicking this link, but if you want to experience it from Roczen’s perspective, press play on his GoPro Onboard footage.
KEN ROCZEN | 450 MAIN EVENT
Roczen and Webb lined up side by side on the starting line, which made things interesting from the moment the gate dropped. Webb had a little better launch on his Red Bull KTM and veered to the left to block the riders on the inside while Roczen stayed on the throttle of his Team Honda HRC all the way into the corner and came out at the holeshot stripe alongside Webb. That Webb was able to stay towards the left was key, because it gave him the inside line as the duo went through turn two and he the chance to take the lead.
One small error exiting the turn after the finish line by Roczen got the bike a little out of sorts and allowed Webb to inch further ahead. The whoops proved to be a big factor in this race. Roczen had a much better drive over the rollers with his preferred far right line, which helped him make him up for the time lost. Although Webb was slower in the whoops, his decision to stay on the left meant that he controlled the inside line in the next turn, which was his strategy of keeping Roczen at bay everywhere around the track. You’ll see this play out multiple times through the moto.
Roczen’s best chance at an overtake came when Webb missed the two-two-three-three rhythm combination, which Roczen aced and destroyed the advantage that had been built in the previous laps. By the time the two crossed the finish line, Webb was back on the offensive and the two traded more passes.
Second for much of the race, Roczen dropped back in the closing stages due in part to his recently announced breathing issues and because he felt like there was something wrong with the rear of his bike (we saw Roczen discuss the possibility of a bike issue with his team in the parc ferme). He was passed by Osborne, Baggett, and Tomac in a handful of laps and finished the race in fifth place.
