Then, Roczen tested several different bikes before finally making his decision to join the HEP Motorsports Suzuki team on December 7. The deal was initially announced as a one-year deal to race AMA Supercross and Motocross just for the 2023 season.

During the press conference today, Roczen said he had intentions of racing the AMA Pro Motocross Championship—which begins May 27 in California—all along, until a recent change made him decide to take up the WSX series full-time instead. The almost hour-long press conference also had SX Global CEO Adam Bailey as well as Dustin Pipes, team principal at HEP Motorsports Suzuki, and covered a lot of topics.

Here are a few key takeaways from the press conference announcing Roczen will race WSX:

Roczen Confirmed to WSX for Next Three Years

It was confirmed that Roczen will compete in the WSX series for the next three years (2023, 2024, and 2025). While he will compete with the Pipes Motorsports Group (PMG) in the 2023 WSX season, he said his 2024 and 2025 plans are still in the works. He could be back with the Suzuki-backed squad next year, although nothing is set it stone there.

SX-Only Future Expected for Roczen

Press conference host—and WSX broadcast play-by-play announcer— Ralph Sheheen referred to Roczen as becoming a “supercross specialist.” Roczen said at the moment he plans on racing AMA Supercross and the WSX series in the future as he transitions into a year-round career of supercross racing. The currently-29-year-old said he hopes this change will extend his career.

“Now I have decided I want to follow my heart and really hon in on supercross and become a specialist in that,” Roczen said.

“With this opportunity and racing supercross all-year round, I think I can prolong my career, be around it a lot more and, of course, ride the American supercross championship as well and be supercross all year round,” he added. “I’m excited about this decision I’ve made and the team as well. I’m so excited for this new chapter.”

Roczen said he was set to race Pro Motocross until the supercross season progressed further along and he and the team built a great base and saw consistent results coming.

“So yeah, my plan was to race Pro Motocross the whole time, but it was a rough outline that I had in place, and it was early on in the season,” Roczen said. “Because I had to put my head towards something, right. But it was also still so far away, and we had so much work to do, to focus on the task at hand, which is getting the motorcycle to the standard that we need to compete for wins and podiums. So that was my plan for the longest time.

“It just started appealing to me so more and more as we got later into the supercross season,” Roczen added. “I just had so much fun with it, but I finally have a great base with my team where we are continuously and consistently on the podium every single weekend. Now, for motocross, you would have to restart. And in the past couple of years, I have struggled with my body. And the motocross season is super-hot, it’s long, and we have a lot of motos. I’m not saying it’s old by any means, I just turned 29. I’m still a young grasshopper, but for whatever reason, I didn’t really want to give this another shot at this point as I’m in a really good spot right now. My body is great, and I just want to do this supercross thing all year round. It was a big decision, but I think it was the smartest one for me. And be around the sport for longer than just right now. I’m still going to be racing the American supercross championship. …I’m very satisfied with my decision.”

The #94 said his fellow competitor—and now good friend—Justin Brayton helped influence him towards this supercross-only future.

“Yeah, I have a very special relationship with Justin Brayton,” Roczen said. “In a joking way, I called him my ‘dad’ because he is like ten years older than me and just crushing it in life. Not just with his career, but also family life and blending those two together. I look up to him so much and he has been a huge influence in making this whole deal of becoming a supercross-only guy really appealing.

“I leaned on him a lot for advice,” Roczen added. “The first person I call out when I have problems is JB. Huge influence with the decision.”

#94 is Still Set to Race 2023 SMX

Without any conflicting dates between WSX and the all-new playoff rounds of the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) in September, Roczen was asked if he would compete in those rounds or not.

“Yes, that is the plan,” Roczen said on competing in SMX. “That was part of the deal for me. So, yes.”

Roczen also said it “is very possible” he could race a round or two of Pro Motocross in order to secure a spot in the SMX playoff rounds if the points get close. Despite his plan to not race the first few rounds of Pro Motocross this summer (with Pro Motocross starting May 28 and WSX starting July 1), the two-time 450 Class Pro Motocross says he still rides motocross tracks once day a week while training.

SX Global’s WSX Ambassador

SX Global CEO Adam Bailey said Roczen is the perfect ambassador for the WSX series. The multi-time champion in different series is one of the most well-known professional motocross racers in the world, and one whose presence peaks fans’ interests.

“Oh, it’s huge,” Bailey said on Roczen racing this year and committing for the following two WSX seasons as well. “It’s absolutely massive. For us to have Ken back, I think just he’s the ultimate ambassador for supercross, to be honest. He ticks all the boxes as an athlete, he’s an aspirational kind of guy, he’s a great family guy, and an amazing athlete. And the things he has overcome are so inspirational. I think he’s just the perfect ambassador for the sport and the perfect person to take around the world with us to try and grow the sport, which is our true goal. He’s an amazing athlete, and someone we’re obviously really proud that he’s willing to commit to being a supercross specialist and join us on the WSX tour as we grow this.”

German GP

The German GP round of WSX will take place October 14, as Roczen anticipates his return to his racing in his native country and expects a large turnout for his “home” event. He said that during the 2022 season he got a taste of traveling around the world and is excited about having his family alongside him as he travels globally, visiting new venues, and racing in front of new crowds, some that might not have ever experience supercross racing before.

WSX Expansion for 2024, 2025, and Beyond

Also touched on briefly in the press conference was the expansion of the WSX series in the near future. The inaugural season in 2022 saw only two rounds and the 2023 championship has six rounds on its schedule. Sheheen stated there might be eight rounds in 2024 and ten rounds in 2025, and “so on.”

Bailey stated the goal of SX Global team is to be “controlled and measured” and not go too far too soon. He said growing WSX has been difficult and challenging.

“I think for us, growing a global championship like this is tough, right—it’s no joke,” Bailey said. “To do try and do what we are doing is very difficult, it’s challenging, as we’ve seen, it hasn’t been the smoothest ride to this point. So we just want to be controlled and measured with where we go. And we’ve learned a ridiculous amount in the first year already. So I think the plan is, we’ve got a lot of different regions we are talking to for next year already to expand the series. But we want to be measured. We want to make sure we do this right. …So for us, we’re taking a measured approach. We’ll grow incrementally over the next couple of years and do it right. That’s the number one thing for us.”

More Rider Announcements Coming Soon

About a month ago on April 6 we had our first 13 confirmed riders for this year’s WSX championship. Riders included in that announcement were Joey Savatgy, Shane McElrath, Justin Hill, Dean Wilson, Kyle Chisholm, Max Anstie, Dilan Schwartz, amongst other European-based riders.

In today’s press conference, Bailey and crew also stated that there should be more AMA Supercross riders confirmed to racing WSX in the upcoming weeks, although it can be tough for those riders to announce WSX deals while in the midst of their current supercross season. Bailey said now that the AMA Supercross season is wrapping up in a week, “it’s all staring to fall into place” for WSX team announcements. Bailey stated teams have to announce their full rider rosters at least 30 days before the first event (again, July 1).

Aforementioned Justin Brayton, who finished fourth in the 2022 WSX Championship standings, has yet to be announced officially, although his name was brought up in today’s press conference as another returning rider for the 2023 season.

Check out the full 2023 FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) schedule below.