After a Round 2 penalty knocked him out of the Supercross points lead, Ken Roczen posted he was “disappointed” with how the situation was handled.
The Monster Energy Supercross series announced penalties Wednesday for Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Vince Friese and Martin Davalos in Round 2 at Houston. They were penalized per AMA Rule 4.16.E.9.C for jumping in a section that displayed a red cross flag.
The four riders will retain their finishing positions in the results, but each will be penalized the loss of championship points and purse equal to two positions for the race, plus two additional points.
Without the Supercross penalty, Roczen would have left the night with a one-point advantage over the Round 1 winner, Justin Barcia. After being docked four points, he fell to fifth in the standings behind Barcia, Dylan Ferrandis and Marvin Musquin.
Roczen responded to the penalty on Instagram, posting “Before I get into my night I wanted to say that I am disappointed in how this situation was handled. (Sorry for the bad quality photos.) I just wanted to get you guys an idea of what the deal was. Put yourself under my helmet. There is a video with a better angle that the AMA has which made it even more clear.”
“I got docked four championship points because of jumping on a Red Cross flag even though my vision at this part of the track was blocked because Dylan took the outside line and as I came around the sand turn he was positioned perfectly in front of the flag and I could not see it. ... I have never disrespected the Red Cross flag ever before and in my eyes this was clearly not a blatant violation.”
Per the 2021 AMA Competition Rulebook, a white flag with a red cross “indicates that ambulances, safety vehicles or emergency personnel may be on the course. Competitors must show extreme caution, slow down, maintain position, not gain an advantage and wheels of the motorcycle must not leave the ground between the flag and the incident. Failure to do so may result in loss of position or a disqualification, subject to the referee’s discretion.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKRtXvsA0ch/
The incident came during an incident involving Chase Sexton, who had crashed from the lead as he exited a sandy section of the track.
Anderson finished Round 2 at Houston in eighth. With the penalty, he currently sits 13th in the Supercross standings.
Friese finished 15th in the race and sits 17th in the standings.
Davalos finished 20th in the race and is 21st in the standings.
Eli Tomac won Round 2 ahead of Ferrandis and Justin Brayton.
Click here for a complete rundown of race results and the points.