Roczen Leads Lites Qualifying In Vegas

Paul Carruthers | May 5, 2012

LAS VEGAS, NV, MAY 6 – While all the attention has been focused on the expected showdown between Lites series champions Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia heading into the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout at Sam Boyd Stadium, it was Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen who stole the show during qualifying on a hot afternoon on the outskirts of Las Vegas.Ken Roczen blitzed Lites qualifying for the season finale in Las Vegas.

Roczen ended up the fastest of the East group and that time surpassed the fastest from the West – Monster Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dean Wilson. Roczen lapped at a best of 1:03.284 – 1.6 seconds quicker than Wilson with JDR KTM’s Malcolm Stewart actually ending up second fastest out of the East and second fastest overall – but 1.3 seconds slower than Roczen.

And what of Barcia and Tomac? Tomac was the faster of the two, the West Lites Champion fourth in his session with a 1:05.141 and eighth overall with Barcia sixth in the East session and 12th oveall with a 1:05.798.

Wilson’s fast time from the West session was good enough for third overall with GEICO Honda’s Justin Bogle fourth best. Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin rounded out the top five from the two sessions.

Lites Qualifying

1. Ken Roczen (KTM) 1:03.284

2. Malcolm Stewart (KTM) 1:04.678

3. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) 1:04.937

4. Justin Bogle (Honda) 1:04.955

5. Marvin Musquin (KTM) 1:05.013

6. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki) 1:05.026

7. Ryan Sipes (Yamaha) 1:05.132

8. Eli Tomac (Honda) 1:05.141

9. Martin Davalos (Suzuki) 1:05.194

10. Will Hahn (Honda) 1:05.670