Roczen Toughts

Fast Thoughts: Ken Roczen

Motoonline Post: Dylan Wills

Progressive Ecstar Suzuki rider on High Point 450MX appearance.

Two-time Pro Motocross champion Ken Roczen made a last-minute decision to line-up behind the gates at the fourth round of the 2023 season at High Point. The number 94 showed the speed to win races, qualifying fastest heading into the motos, and to the delight of fans around the world, put up a fight to Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) by giving the teenager his first real challenge in the premier class. Eventually, Roczen ended the round with a 7-2 scorecard, which was enough to secure second overall for the round. The Progressive Ecstar Suzuki rider features in this week’s Fast Thoughts interview.

Image: Octopi Media.

Kenny, 7-2 for second overall on the day…

I went down there, we had a good battle, the track was a brutal one to come back to for the first one. We got into a bunch of lappers, and I tried to pop out of the rut and kind of tucked the front end and went down. Then I was stuck in a rut and couldn’t find neutral, and when I did find neutral, every time I would kick it, it would pop back out. So definitely on the struggle bus there, but I really just came here to kind of give the fans what they wanted to see. I’m happy that I did that today. Obviously, Jett’s been on one lately and he was able to get the job done again today. But I was able to lead some laps and put up a little bit of a fight. The track was something else. There’s so much to talk about, I only did two days of motocross this week, I did some motos on Monday and we tested half a day on Wednesday and that was it, so for that, showing up, and then this track was a muddy mess out there, I think we had an amazing day with Progressive Ectsar Suzuki. Yeah, we were E-Z Upping it right next to them. It was an awesome day, especially ripping the holeshot in the second one. I had some good laps in the beginning, but then I think I had some shitty lines. Once Jett passed me I kind of copied his lines a little bit and that helped me.

Running the hybrid rear tire…

I personally have never really liked the scoop tire. I like to rail ruts and lean the bike over, I don’t like the scoop, it feels too tall in the rear and the carcass feels stiff. I don’t feel the bike turns as well. So, I tend to lean toward the cut tire, and we made some changes for the second one. But obviously, the scoop tire for the start, when it’s deep and muddy if you don’t have it, it can really get you. I really don’t understand today, when it was such a muddy mess, the past rounds, the last three rounds they groomed the whole start straight, then the one time they really needed it today, they didn’t. I don’t understand what the reasoning was behind that because I think it would have been a lot safer if they took the dozer, pushed some of the mud off and tilled it a bit. Because of the ruts, they were gnarly coming out of there, and a lot of sawdust, just a big deep muddy mess, it was interesting.

You’re approach to this weekend seeing as you’re not in the championship…

Um, not really. When I decide to do something, when the gate drops, I want to do good. I don’t want to look like an idiot out there. And like Adam [Cianciarulo] said, on a track like this, if you lose focus even a little bit, I mean, I felt like I made a lot of mistakes that I usually don’t, but this track was very difficult to ride mistake-free. There was no cruising around or just having fun, you know? I wanna do good when I’m out there. Like I said, this was a short-notice situation, but the good thing is I can pick and choose, and I wanted to do this, first and foremost as a fun thing, I had a few weeks off and I had the itch. But when the gate drops, I want to do good and I want to have fun. That’s kind of been my mindset all season, as well. I wanted to go out there, have fun, and be into what I’m doing. I’ve kept that coming into this one as well.

Plans for the weekend off and future outdoor races…

For the upcoming weekend off, I just bought a beach house, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m probably going to go surfing and put my toes in the sand, but I’m looking forward to finding my next level with working out. That’s kind of become a little bit of my hobby, I’m loving that part of my life, working out and riding. I’m excited about what’s to come here in the future, I’d like to do some more outdoor races as well. Do some supercross, do some motocross, kind of play it by ear.

Gajser Back to MXGP at Loket

Tim Gajser To Return At Loket!

Ben RumboldJune 21, 20230

In a press conference at his Tiga243land track in Slovenia, reigning MXGP champion Tim Gajser announced  that he will return to the World Motocross Championship at the MXGP of the Czech Republic on July 15-16. The #243 has missed the entire 2023 season up to this point due to a broken femur he sustained in the pre-season crash at the Pietramurata track in Trentino, Italy in February and has been in rehabilitation since that moment. Now though, after receiving the green light from his doctor, he will race at Loket, where a lot of Slovenians should be able to make the trip north to see their returning hero in action.

That race is still just over three weeks away, giving Gajser a bit more time to prepare himself for the rigours of MXGP duty, while the rest of the team support Fernandez as he looks to step on the podium again and continue his chase for third place in the 2023 world championship standings.

Meanwhile, Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez travels to Indonesia this week as he gets ready to race the first of the double-header in the Asian country. First up is the return to the island Sumbawa, which provided an excellent venue at its debuting event last year. That is then followed by a new round on Lombok, on July 1-2, an island that has successfully hosted MotoGP for the last few years.

On a trip that normally consists of three flights, these races aren’t easy to get to, but the hugely enthusiastic and vocal local population make up for that, bringing great energy and making everyone in the paddock feel truly welcome. Fernandez took advantage of that last year when he went three-four for third overall, in what was his second MXGP podium of his career. Given the fact he’s riding a lot better this time around, and coming off the back of his third podium of the season in Germany last time out, hopes are high that he can make it number four at the incredible Sumbawa facility.

Obviously I’m extremely excited to have a date set for my return, to give me something to focus on a prepare for specifically and I feel that Loket is a good track, that I’ll have a lot of support at. I’ve been on the bike a number of weeks now and everything has gone well, the doctor has checked and confirmed this and given me the all-clear to return to racing. I have just over three weeks to make sure I am where I need to be, but just having that date makes things a lot clearer. A big thank you to everyone for all the support and I can’t wait to meet up with my Team HRC colleagues, and the rest of the MXGP paddock soon.

Ruben Fernandez 

Last time in Sumbawa, I had a great time at what was a great GP. I got on the podium with two solid motos at the fantastic track they made there. I think everyone was shocked at how amazing the circuit was, with a big wide layout, and some massive jumps. The soil was this strange mixture, that was hard to setup right for, but I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to ride there again. It is a lot of travel to get there but I think it is good that we have two races in Indonesia this year and I am interested to see a bit more of the country.

Cherokee National Enduro

RJ Winning With Style

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Highpoint 250 Highlights

Highpoint 450 Highlights

Lawrence Wins Again

Lawrence overcomes High Point adversity to extend streak

Spontaneous Roczen entry translates to second overall.

Image: Octopi Media.

History continues to unfold in the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship as Jett Lawrence turned the High Point National into proof that he can overcome significant competition and crashes on a rain-affected track and still leave with his perfect win record intact.

The Team Honda HRC sensation’s day is reflected on the official results as 1-1 moto scores, but that far from tells the story of the daylong headache Ken Roczen provided in his one-off outdoors appearance with Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki.

Additionally, heavy rain in the days leading into the Pennsylvania event heightened the difficulty of the High Point Raceway track, perhaps contibuting to the heavy crash Lawrence suffered while leading the opening 450MX moto.

At that point, Roczen and Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha representative Garrett Marchbanks got by, but Lawrence caught and passed both to extend his season record to 7-0 — though he gave up the distinction of leading every lap of the year.

Struggling to change his line while approaching a lapper on the muddy track late in the first moto, Roczen hit the ground and lost considerable time as he worked to kickstart his machine while on a hill. Marchbanks’ second-place start and strong moto paid off as Roczen dropped from the front and the ClubMX rider returned to the second position. Marchbanks finished there, 26.205s back from Lawrence.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) was next, followed by two Kawasaki KX450 bikes: the Monster Energy Kawasaki-prepared ride for Adam Cianciarulo and Ty Masterpool’s privateer entry, which was smoking in the closing minutes after a fall.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) reached sixth after an unideal start and led Roczen, Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki), and Romain Pape in completing the top 10.

Looking to exit the season’s fourth round with his perfect record intact, Lawrence faced another severe challenge en route to his eighth moto victory of 2023 in the day’s concluding moto.

Roczen led early with Cianciarulo trailing him and Lawrence working to quickly catch both. Lawrence cut into Roczen’s lead until the 11th of the race’s 16 laps, at which point he returned his No. 18 Honda CRF450R to its familiar position of first and closed out another 1-1 moto result.

Roczen settled for second in the moto and also was second overall after his seventh-place result in the opening moto. Ferrandis overcame Cianciarulo for third, but fell short of the overall podium with 6-3 moto scores. By finishing fourth in both High Point motos, Cianciarulo earned his first podium outdoors thus far in 2023.

Plessinger, Webb, Masterpool, Marchbanks, Grant Harlan, and Freddie Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) comprised the bottom half of the top 10 in the event’s final moto.

Lawrence has amassed the maximum possible sum of 200 points through four rounds, and heads to the fifth event — the FMF Redbud National on Saturday, July 1 — with a 49-point advantage over former series champion Ferrandis. KTM’s Webb and Plessinger are third and fourth in the standings, 53 and 62 points back, respectively.

Six gate drops, six great starts...is it Jett or is it Works Connection?

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MXA TEAM TESTED: WORKS CONNECTION PRO LAUNCH

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(3) Activation. Because of its lever-style mechanism and chamfered engagement point, the Pro Launch glides over the receiver on the way down and catches on the way up. Some riders can set the device by themselves, but most MXA test riders have a friend engage it for them. To set it, the rider has to hold the front brake on while he or his mechanic compress the fork by pushing down on the handlebars with a rocking motion. There is a learning curve to mastering it. 

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(6) Setting. MXA test riders typically run their Pro Launch devices at 100mm, which is in the middle of Works Connection’s recommended settings; however, tackier dirt behind the starting gate might require setting the device lower because of the increased traction on launch. In Supercross and MXGP races, where they use a metal starting grate, we’ve seen riders set the device as low as 160mm. 

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MXA RATING: Works Connection’s magnetic Pro Launch raised the bar far beyond the old-school button-style devices, and it continues set the bar for holeshot devices in motocross today.

Good Morning High Point

Morning Report

Good morning race fans! Coming to you live from High Point Raceway, AKA the “Country Club of Motocross” as Tim Cotter refers to it, in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, as we are set for the 46th High Point National. The High Point National will be the fourth round of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, the first on the East Coast.

After rain on Thursday and Friday (the latter canceling the press day riding session and amateur practice as well), we should be set for clear skies for today’s event. A high of about 76 degrees Fahrenheit are not expected to be too challenging today, but the High Point Raceway track characteristics will not make today easy by any means.

In the 250 Class, the big story has been Hunter Lawrence’s strong start to the season. The Honda HRC rider has taken three of the six moto wins to date as the #96 has taken all three overall wins as he sits with a 16-point lead on Justin Cooper. Things are shaping up well for Hunter Lawrence, as he becomes the eighth rider to start a 125/250 Class Pro Motocross season with three straight overall wins. The previous seven times it happened, said rider won the championship.

In the premier class, the big story has also been some great riding by a Lawrence on a Honda HRC, as Jett Lawrence continued his perfect season so far: willing all six motos and leading all 92 laps so far en route to a 3-0 start to the season. Jett has been in control every race so far, almost looking like he is on cruise control out front. Jett Lawrence’s 3-0 start is the 14th time said feat has happened in the premier class—and 11 of the previous 13 times said rider to start 3-0 went on to win the championship. The rest of the field is hoping to stop the Lawrence brother’s respective rolls. We will see what happens when the motos start.

A few things to note: Ken Roczen is making his Pro Motocross season debut today. Roczen said yesterday he asked his son Griffin if he would rather go on the boat or go racing this weekend, and racing won, so the Roczen squad decided to spend their Father’s Day weekend at High Point Raceway. The #94 is prepping for the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) that kicks off in July, although he will be back to an AMA starting gate in a few months’ time as he is set to race the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoff rounds.

Phil Nicoletti is making his return to racing following a wrist injury in February. Nicoletti said yesterday his goal was to return to racing at the RedBud National, but he is able to give it a go this weekend. This track is not an easy one to make your return from injury at, but the #69 will benefit from racing today and getting a race in for both himself and the all-new Yamaha YZ450F. Then, a weekend off before the RedBud National will help him as he looks to finish out the Pro Motocross season in full.