Larry Lawrence | September 7, 2016
Ken Roczen certainly etched his name in the AMA Pro Motocross record books with his outstanding 2016 championship season. His 584 points was the fourth-highest point total a rider has achieved in the premier division in Pro Motocross history and is the most since 2008 when James Stewart earned 600 points during an undefeated season.
It marked Roczen’s second 450 Motocross National Championship in three years and the German ace more than doubled his career 450 MX win total going from six national wins coming into 2016 and ending the summer adding nine more to bring his total tally to 15-career 450 MX victories. His dominating 2016 in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship leapfrogged Roczen up from 20th on the all-time 450MX wins list to a tie for eighth with Motorcycle Hall of Famer Jeremy McGrath. With another decent season in 2017 Roczen could easily break into the top-five all-time. If he does so it will be one of the most rapid ascensions ever on the all-time wins list.
Roczen was nearly unbeatable this season. The one stat, beside the points he scored, that really stands out is his 20 wins in 24 motos (he also finished on the podium in 23 of 24 motos). Eli Tomac was the only rider able to beat Roczen straight up this year. If you recall, the one moto Roczen lost to Ryan Dungey at Glen Helen was due to a collapsed front fork.
The banner season was historic for the RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing effort as well, with the Carey Hart and Ricky Carmichael led effort becoming the first privately owned team to win a 450 Class title.
It would have been interesting to see what might have happened had Dungey stayed healthy, but based on the early rounds it looked as if Roczen was going to be very tough to beat even for KTM’s 2015 champ. Eli Tomac, who was clearly on another level from the rest of the field at the start of the 2015 MX season before he suffered injury, never quite regained that dominant speed this summer, even though he showed flashes of brilliance en route to scoring two overall victories on the season with his new Kawasaki squad.
Three riders winning in the 450 class in 2016 (Roczen with nine, Tomac with two and Dungey with one national win) was historically a low number, but certainly not unprecedented. You need only go back to 2013 to find the last time that happened, when Ryan Villopoto, Dungey and James Stewart were the only three to win all summer. In 2012 only Stewart and Dungey managed victories. But we were coming off a 2015 where you had four winners (Tomac, Dungey, Roczen and Barcia) in 2014 when we had five.
Roczen’s title marked the first for Suzuki since 2010 when a rookie Ryan Dungey won the championship for them. It’s the 11th time Suzuki has won the premier MX title in the U.S. Interestingly Suzuki broke out of a tie with Yamaha on the all-time wins by manufacturer in the 450 class and now owns 85 premier class victories, that’s third behind Honda’s 134 and Kawasaki’s 105.
Cooper Webb broke through to score his first title in the outdoor nationals. For Webb, his hopes at winning the 250 Class title seemed bleak at the start of the season after he was forced to battle through a lingering wrist injury. While he started off slow, Webb ensured his presence was felt in the early rounds as he slowly progressed through the injury. At his home race from Tennessee’s Muddy Creek Raceway, Webb emerged with his first overall win of the season, igniting a dramatic surge through the second half of the summer that saw him rattle off three straight wins and seize control of the championship. Once in possession of the red number plate Webb never looked back and ultimately went on to claim his first national title in his final season of 250 Class competition. He gave Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha its third straight championship, leading the way for a 1-2 finish in the final standings for the team with Alex Martin following as championship runner up.
Webb, who ultimately scored four national victories, was one of six winners in the 250 class in 2016, along with Joseph Savatgy (3 wins), Alex Martin (2 wins), Jeremy Martin, Zach Osborne and Austin Forkner with a win apiece. Three of them – Alex Martin, Osborne and Forkner were first-time winners.
It was a milestone year for Husqvarna as Osborne’s 250 victory at Budds Creek was the first in series history for the maker.
Missouri produced some exciting new riders this year with the state producing both of this year’s Rookie of the Year. In the 450 Class, former AMA Horizon Award Winner Benny Bloss was given the honor for the premier division, following an impressive first season with BTO Sports/WPS/KTM. After joining the team just prior to the Pro Motocross Championship, Bloss showed continued progression throughout the summer, recording a career-best result of fourth at Unadilla and finishing sixth in the final standings. In the 250 Class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Austin Forkner’s Rookie of the Year honors confirmed his position as a future title contender. His late-season ascension to the forefront of the division culminated with the first overall win of his career at the Ironman National, capping off the summer with four straight overall podium results and a fourth-place finish in the final standings
The 2017 AMA Pro Motocross season seems like an eternity away and in a sport when so many things can happen from week to week, from winter pre-season practice, through the grinding Supercross winter. It really will be a different landscape when the MX series kicks off again next May. Dungey’s return should make the biggest impact and fans are eager to see how well Webb makes the transition to the bigger bikes. Can Tomac once again find the consistency to be a serious title contender? One thing is most likely though and that is Roczen should again be the rider to beat. The 250 class appears at this point to be wide open.
