Perhaps the Ken Roczen/ Dean Wilson incident from last Saturday evening in Houston has been beaten to death, but there’s something about it that has been bugging me all week long. After watching some bootleg video of the 450SX main from Houston on YouTube a few times this week, it has shed some more light on what happened in the closing laps. You’ll have to search it up on YouTube as I’m not going to promote someone sitting in the stands with a camera and no mask on filming something he shouldn’t be, but since he mostly just filmed the two leaders from start to finish, you do get a closer look at what Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb went through during the 20 minute plus a lap main event.
As we all witnessed, the 450SX main event started like any other race. The riders made it through the right hand first turn safely and Webb led everyone around on Lap 1. Roczen, who was no doubt still angry at getting dock four points at Round 2 for jumping on a red cross flag, made quick work of Webb and set off on a blistering pace. For the next 10 minutes, things remained fairly calm as the only rider who appeared to be charging was Justin Barcia. He got into third place and was actually catching the two leaders for a few laps. At the time Barcia was the only rider who was able to successfully triple into the corner before the table to table section at the one end of the stadium. This was the same triple that caused Austin Forkner to crash on earlier in the day, so it was a challenging jump. Barcia was able to triple into the corner and still make the inside rut. This line was fast and as I said before he crashed in the sand section halfway through the main event, Barcia appeared to be the fastest rider on the track. So with Barcia’s charge to the front stiffed, this left Roczen and Webb to battle it out for the win in Houston.
Even with 5 minutes plus a lap remaining Roczen still had a slight lead over Webb and the KTM rider still wasn’t able to get close enough to attempt a pass. Then with roughly six laps to go, Roczen decided to change up his line in the table to table section, and instead of going inside and then jumping from table to table, he started going wide in the corner and then jumping all the way over the first table-top, and then jumping from the face of the second table-top to the next single. I might not be explaining it well, but basically, Roczen’s line was easier to do consistently in the closing laps, but it was definitely slower and Webb began to close the gap. At this point Roczen losing time had nothing to do with Dean Wilson or any other lappers, it had to do with Roczen making poor line choices. I’m quite sure that when Webb saw this with a few laps to go his eyes and throttle hand lit up! Also, this wasn’t the first time that Webb has made a late-race pass on Roczen to win a main event, so Webb had to have known that the Honda rider was prone to fading slightly in the final few laps. As riders, we all know that once you have another rider’s number, it’s much easier to keep doing the same thing over and over again. Another thing that I feel is important here is that during these final laps on tracks that are getting badly broken down, even on television you could see the bare NRG Stadium floor in a few sections. This is where Webb’s training at the Baker’s Factory with the soft and rutted practice tracks really helps. It’s like the more the track breaks down, the better Cooper Webb gets. Simply put, Roczen changed up his line in the section I mentioned and gave up his cushion over Webb
With all of that said, I still have my doubts that Webb would’ve been able to make the pass on Roczen in the closing laps if Kenny hadn’t got held up by Wilson, but I’m guessing that Webb would’ve taken a shot. As we all saw on the broadcast, Roczen caught Wilson with over a lap and half to go in the race, and despite multiple blue flags waving, Wilson, who thought he had a hard-charging Dylan Ferrandis behind him, didn’t yield to the leader. As they came by the mechanic’s area for the final time, Wilson accidentally blocked Roczen causing him to bobble, and this allowed Webb to go in for the kill. For Webb, things couldn’t have worked out better as he rode off with an unexpected win. For Roczen, he was left in disbelief as 20 minutes of near-perfect riding all went sideways on the final lap. Finally, for Dean Wilson, he was left embarrassed and apologetic that he had inadvertently cost Ken Roczen his first win of 2021. It was a bad situation for both Roczen and Wilson and it all played out in front of everyone. After the race, Roczen was furious (he had every right to be) while Wilson was left trying to figure out how he could’ve done something like this. And Cooper Webb, well he was just smiling like the cat who had just swallowed the canary.
So moving forward what could Roczen and Wilson have done differently to avoid this terrible situation? For Roczen, he definitely could’ve done a few things to make life a little easier for himself in the closing laps. First, he’s going to have to fight the urge to change up lines in a crucial section like the one he did on Saturday night. I’m sure when he watches a replay of the main event he’ll see how this cost him the gap he had on Webb. Second, we all know that when lapping someone in the closing laps you have to be extra careful. However, Roczen followed Wilson for almost two laps, and at some point (knowing that you have a rider like Webb behind you) you have to get aggressive, I mean very aggressive. A good rule to go by (even in SX) is to take your time with lappers if they appear to be holding you up. As we saw here, the rider getting lapped is racing themselves and maybe they don’t know you’re there. But after a few corners or even a lap, you have to take matters into your own hands and up your aggression level. Thirdly, I know it’s easy to panic if you’re in the position Roczen was in, but in the right-hand corner where Webb did end up passing him, why would he not have protected the inside better. This is another great lesson for all you younger riders out there. When in doubt, protect the inside and if another rider is going to pass you, make them ride around you. For some reason, Roczen went to the outside and Webb saw an opening and took it. Yes, Roczen got held up and that’s a shame, but he still could’ve done a few more things to prevent losing the lead to Webb.
Now, when it comes to Dean Wilson, obviously there are a few things he could’ve done differently. There were numerous blue flags waved at him in the closing laps, but on a rough and rutted SX track with two laps to go, taking time to look around is not easy. Wilson was focused on the track and what he thought was a hard-charging Ferrandis behind him. Wilson was racing for 11th and not 18th, so he was trying to earn important points also. Racing is racing and bad things happen, I don’t think for a second that Wilson did any of this intentionally. Also, because it was an honest mistake on Dean’s part, other than saying sorry to Roczen right after the race and then perhaps later when tempers had cooled, I honestly feel like Deano was too apologetic. As I said, apologize to Roczen once (maybe twice) and then move on, I didn’t think Wilson needed to make a Social Media post telling everyone how sorry he was. This is another good lesson for young riders these days. If you make a mistake (the way Dean did) own up to it and say you’re sorry to the riders or riders that it affected. But if your apology isn’t good enough for the other person and in this case, most of the die-hard Roczen fans, then move on quickly and just worry about yourself. A few people in this industry have stated that this coming weekend in Indianapolis is an important one for Roczen as he needs to bounce back. While I believe that to be true, I think Round 4 is more important for Wilson. He cares a lot what people think of him and it’s no doubt been difficult to hear so many SX fans ripping on him. But at the end of the day, all he did was make an unintentional mistake, and really, who cares what Roczen or other people think of him. Deano needs to block this out of his mind and come out swinging this weekend in Indy. He needs to get a good start and race everyone, especially Roczen hard. This sport can be an evil beast and if your competition senses any weakness then they will try and capitalize on it. Also, as much as everyone talks about what Roczen has been through during the past four years, let’s not forget about Dean Wilson. Back to back ACL surgeries, a dislocated hip, as well as numerous other setbacks. No rider in this sport is immune to challenges!
Let’s hope moving forward that we don’t see things like this happening again. I’m sure the flagging can be improved, and as I’ve stated above, both Roczen and Wilson can also learn from this. With the next three rounds in Indianapolis being on small, soft, and tight tracks like the ones we saw in Houston, the lap times will be short and lappers once again could be an issue. I’d love to see Roczen bounce back and take the win, and I’d also love to see Wilson bounce back and perhaps have the best finish of his career. Both riders deserve it, and both riders have earned it!