Ken Roczen, the 2014 and 2016 Pro Motocross champion, knew there would be a learning curve when he moved from the Factory Honda team to Pipes Motorsports Group Suzuki in 2023, so it was not surprising that he only managed one win that year. He thought his sophomore season with the team would be better overall, but his mixed performance in the first five rounds raised concerns.
In the early rounds, Roczen placed second twice in San Francisco and fifth in Detroit; however, his other three finishes placed him well outside of the top five. However, a rider usually only needs to gain momentum once to achieve a powerful outcome, and that was imminent.
Jason Anderson lost to Roczen in theAn eighth-place result in Arlington, Texas, in the following round proved to be a brief setback. Following a four-race run in the top five, Roczen took a weekend off to finish outside the top 10 in St. Louis before placing third in Round 13 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Although these were the outcomes that everyone had come to anticipate, Roczen was too far behind Cooper Webb and Lawrence in the points standings, in fifth place, to be a significant contender for the championship.
Roczen experienced one of the most terrifying crashes of the season the following week in Nashville, Tennessee. On Lap 9 of the race, Roczen was pursuing Eli Tomac, the leader, when a shock broke. Roczen was thrown violently to the ground while riding in a smoke-filled fog, breaking his foot, toe, and tib plateau. Roczen was absent from the first eight Motocross rounds and the last three Supercross rounds. The significance of getting back in the saddle of the bike as soon as possible is one consequence of the SuperMotocross World Championship. This is sometimes required to gain momentum and other times to move up a spot or two in the standings and improve one’s playoff seeding.
Roczen didn’t need the points. He was well in the top 20 and would have a guaranteed place in the playoffs. At best, he could gain a spot on Christian Craig, and to hear him speak at the time, he was not overly concerned about momentum.
So Roczen decided to have some fun. He mounted a 250 for the Ironman Nationals in Crawfordsville, Indiana, showed speed in practice, but finished ninth overall. Roczen’s real goal was to improve on his 2023 SuperMotocross championship form. That season, he finished second in every round after missing all but one Motocross round.
Roczen was consistent again in the 2024 playoffs, but it wasn’t the consistency he wanted. He finished fifth in Charlotte, sixth at Texas Motor Speedway, and seventh in Las Vegas.
Roczen renewed his contract with the Progressive Ecstar Suzuki team for 2025 and hears the clock ticking. Despite the tendency for all riders to suffer injuries during their career, the SuperMotocross field is aging, and Roczen still has a few wins in his system at 30. To challenge for one of the three SMX championships this year, he will need to stay healthy because bones don’t stitch together nearly as well in an athlete’s fourth decade as they did when he was younger.
