Ken Roczen stopped racing Monster Energy Supercross after Daytona in March, looking for an answer for health issues. After a flare up of Epstein-Barr Virus, and a bout with coronavirus that took a bad turn, a few months helped Ken get back to form. He was darned good at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross opener, leading laps and ultimately finishing second to his teammate Chase Sexton in a pair of close battles. He talked about it with the media after the race.
Ken, everybody had big expectations, as well as yourself. We’ve watched a lot on the social media. It’s incredible the intensity level that you were training with. I know you wanted to make a statement. You got fantastic starts. I didn’t see any mistakes. I’m sure you felt some mistakes. It looked like you had maybe one altercation with a lapper as well. You might have got held up once, maybe twice when you and Chase were coming through a pack of them. Chase was able to go inside, and you drifted out just a little bit, about two laps to go. Basically slowed you up in that second moto.
Ken Roczen: Yeah. I almost died in the first moto on these rollers right here really bad. So, I’m really glad to get out of here safe. I think the second moto the track was better than the first one. They were a lot more square just on the take-offs of the jumps in the first one. So, I’m glad they fixed those up a little bit. Overall, I didn’t really know where I was going to be at. My head is in it and I try to prepare as well as I can. This is a very good weekend to build on. I’m glad to battle with Chase today. Obviously, he’s super strong and fast right now. For me, I just want to have that never-give-up mentality. I fought hard today. Of course some lappers messed him up as well. We had some good battles. After he went by me, I really tried to stay on him and close the gap again and possibly try to make a run for it again. But I wasn’t quite close enough and got myself by a couple of lappers, especially in the first moto. That’s when within one lap I felt like I lost ten seconds, and then afterwards I kind of just stayed there and looked for some lines for the second moto as well. Overall though, I had such a good time racing today. I was glad to be back. Of course, during practice at home I try to put in that intensity, but it’s just never the same until you get to the race. It was nice getting this first one out of the way and know where I’m at.
![Roczen and Sexton]()
Roczen and Sexton Align Media ![Post-moto hugs and handshakes.]()
Post-moto hugs and handshakes. Align Media
It looked like the Ken Roczen of old, just the fluid technique on the bike, the smooth outside lines. Just making great decisions. I saw that move on the rollers out there. What led to that?
They were cupped out kind of weird. I feel like I probably bottomed out or something and almost went over the bars. It was really tricky there. Afterwards I was like, don’t do anything stupid now. That was really the only spot where I got really sketchy. Other than that, I hit my marks pretty good and felt like I just overall rode really well today.
Ken, you were away from racing a little bit. Were you worried about finding the intensity that you obviously found today? Have you always had it, or was it unexpected?
When I stopped racing supercross, I feel like everything got worse until it got better. Honestly, it always sounds like there’s a lot of time, but there really isn’t. I was getting a little bit worried that I was going to come into the season too under prepared. But that at the same time, once my head and everything was in it, I did everything I possibly could to get myself as good as possible. It was great to see that it paid off today. I think I can still build on it. I tried to put in the intensity and really drive myself in the gutter, really. Motocross is gnarly. It was nice to see that up to par. I tried to put in the intensity, but race day is always a little different. So, it was good to get this one out of the way.
Fox Raceway 1 - 450
May 28, 2022| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 1 - 1 | Honda CRF450R |
| 2 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 2 - 2 | Honda CRF450R |
| 3 |  Christian Craig | Temecula, CA | 3 - 3 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 7 - 4 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 5 |  Ryan Dungey | Belle Plaine, MN | 5 - 5 | KTM 450 SX-F |
Obviously, this is a huge day for Honda as a whole. Is it almost surreal to be battling your teammate and not really having anybody close behind and just kind of focus on each other like that?
For me as well. I’ve known Chase a long time. We’ve been friends a long time. So, I would rather battle with my teammate than anybody else. So, that was really cool to see. As long as he respects the elderly a little bit [laughs]. But yeah, it was fun.
Looked like you had a lot of fun battling with Chase. I know you want to be the top dog as well. It’s going to be a big night tonight at the Honda camp, I’m sure.
Yeah. Everyone is stoked around the team, but we don’t want to rest on that either. We’re just going to go back with the family and have drinks tonight. It was really just cool for me to get my head straight and everything else. I actually just had a lot of fun racing, so that makes me look forward to the next race.
