There are a few things you can usually be sure of in late October. Schoolteachers will be dreading the day after Halloween, seemingly every woman on Earth is sipping pumpkin spiced latte, and the high-profile riders in the sport are already starting to dial in their program for next year. Well, in 2022 only two of those three things are true, and since November first is still a school day and Starbucks hasn’t announced any PSL shortages, you know we’re talking about Ken Roczen, who still hasn’t announced any solid plans on which team, if any, he’ll be riding for when the first gate of the ’23 season drops in Anaheim. However, a video, which was shot while Roczen was in Cardiff, Whales, for WSX, recently dropped and it did contain a few clues on what his Roczen’s future could hold.
The initial portion of the video is Roczen talking about his life in Germany, his first races, and eventually earning an MX2 championship in just his second full season. He also talked about initially coming to America when he was still “a little kid,” and immediately being thrown into the deep end of Monster Energy AMA Supercross and just trying to figure it all out.
Fast forward to present day, and Roczen has indeed figured it out. He picked up a 250SX West championship in 2013, then stormed to a pair of 450 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross championships in 2014 and 2016. Roczen’s skill, success, marketability, and immense popularity, made him one of the hottest, if not the hottest, properties in racing.
Not that Roczen has ever allowed himself to be considered as property, however. Just the opposite in fact. He and his former team, Honda HRC, could not see eye-to-eye over Roczen competing in the new FIM World Supercross Championship. American Honda doesn’t want its riders to race there, but Roczen had already committed to racing those events. You could say Honda wouldn’t sign Roczen if Roczen raced overseas, or you could say Roczen refused to sign with Honda if it meant he couldn’t race WSX. Either version is true. For better or worse, Roczen decided to choose the path of his liking, which, so far, has left him without a ride in 2023.
"It was really a no-brainer for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced in Europe in general,” Roczen explained. “We have a very monotonous schedule in the U.S., we start racing in January and we don’t finish until September. With that kind of schedule, it can get very draining. It’s almost every single weekend with no off time. I look at this [WSX] as a fun thing. Of course it made sense financially, I have to look out for my family and do what’s best, but everything was just meant to be. I had no problem saying no to my written offer. I’m glad that I did, I’m enjoying my time here in Europe. I’m so glad I made the decision. Instead of always thinking about racing, racing, racing, every single weekend, this has been a vacation for us. We’ve gone sightseeing every single day since we’ve been here in London. That’s stuff we don’t normally get to do because we don’t have time. I’m glad my family is here with me, and I’m super glad to be connecting this fun adventure with racing on the weekend.”
Regardless of how much fun Roczen had in the UK, and how much he’s probably having in Australia right now, as he mentioned, he’s still got a family to look out for, and turning down a lucrative offer to race solely in America could come with long-term financial consequences. But, always the cavalier maverick, Roczen doesn’t seem worried.
“I left a factory team for obvious reasons," he said. "For now, I had to leave them. But I have no doubt in my mind, and I’m with a privateer team right now, that we’re capable of winning. It comes with a lot of positives, we can do whatever we want, and the people who are around me right now want to win. They’re ready to do anything and everything, and if anything, that’s a bonus, actually. I’m pumped where I’m at right now.”
“A lot of people thought I was done this year, and I don’t blame them, I had a really difficult time,” Roczen continued. “But what’s next for me, I’m going to focus on these next few races, and at the same time, I’m at full prep for American supercross and motocross for these next couple of years. I’m putting my head down and continuing to work on my body. I want to do this and I still want to give this a legit shot. This year has been tough for me, but I will bounce back, just how I’ve done in the past. My focus is on racing these next couple of years. I don’t know what team is going to pick me up, or if a team is going to pick me up. No matter what, as soon as we’re done with WSX, I’m going to snatch a bike somewhere and I’m going to get to work. If that means I have to show up to Anaheim 1 as a privateer, so be it. I don’t think there’s been a privateer who’s won Anaheim 1, but maybe it’ll be me.”
