Team Honda Gets Overall Second-Place Finish At Silver Creek
Riding a Honda CRF450R, Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen charted 2-3 moto finishes at the recent Silver Creek National held at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota, which marks the eighth round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series. The finishes propelled Roczen to finish second overall for the weekend and left him sitting in fourth overall for the series, with 288 points and four rounds remaining.
A Better Bike
Leading for nearly half the first moto at Silver Creek, Roczen jockeyed for the lead the rest of the race despite being held up by another lapped racer. Roczen posted the third-fastest lap during qualifying practice, but says he and the Honda HRC team are still working to refine the CRF450R, which is “definitely” getting better. “Normally I'm 4-5 seconds behind in qualifying practice and I was pretty close today, so it was good,” he says.
Following the Silver Creek event, Roczen headed to the West Coast to spend several days testing with the Team Honda HRC. Team manager Erik Kehoe said the overall goal for testing was to make Roczen more comfortable with the bike “so he can continue to ride that race pace for longer.” The team returns to action July 28 for the Washougal National in Washougal, Washington.
Absolute Holeshot
Introduced in 2002, the 248-pound (112.5-kilogram) CRF450R was updated for 2018 to omit the kick-starter in favor of an electric starter that now comes standard and receives power from a lithium-ion battery. Powered by a 449cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine, the bike features updated suspension settings, new ECU settings, and other features “optimized for modern MX competition.”
If you’re in the market for new and used Honda motorsports vehicles, MotorSportsUniverse.com has plenty to choose from, including a number of CRF450Rs.
Source: Honda