Roczen ‘aware of the situation’ in 450SX title bid

450SX contender Ken Roczen admitted that he is ‘aware of the situation’ as he pursues a maiden Monster Energy Supercross premier class title in 2026, intent on applying added pressure as his points deficit extended to 20 following Daytona.

The Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki rider has opened the SMX World Championship season with his customary fast start, claiming victory at Glendale’s fifth round and standing on the podium on a further four occasions.

Ranked equal third in the 450SX standings, title rivals Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) and Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM) finished ahead of Roczen at Daytona, a scenario he has since acknowledged must change.

“I know that points-wise, I can’t let these guys be in front of me all the time,” Roczen explained. “Having said that, it’s a good thing that Eli won, and Hunter was second, so I only lost a couple of points overall. But I’m going to have to get on that, try to change something about it.

“It doesn’t really mean that I’m going to do anything different – I’m aware of the situation, but I’m not stressing about it. We still have a lot of racing to go, I have to just start getting a couple wins here and there, for sure.”

With the series set to contest its second Triple Crown event of the season at Indianapolis this weekend, the 31-year-old noted that starts will be a priority, with three gate-drops having a significant influence on the final result.

“Over the last few weeks, I’m still doing some testing because I feel like we can get better and more consistent,” he continued. “But I have been getting pretty good starts when it counts the most, so I’m hoping to bring that into the Triple Crown next week because that’s obviously more than half the battle, so [we’re] focusing on that.”

Lawrence leads the 450SX standings on 171 points after eight rounds, with Tomac trailing the Australian by a single point following his eighth premier-class Daytona victory. Roczen sits level with defending champion Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), with both riders on 151 points.