The following interviews are courtesy of Gate Drop MX
The opening round of the of the 2023 FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX) took place on Saturday in Birmingham, United Kingdom, kicking off the six-round series. The British GP was claimed by Ken Roczen, who finished 1-4-1 for the overall in the WSX (450cc) Class, and Shane McElrath, who finished 1-2-1 for the overall win in the SX2 (250cc) Class. Joey Savatgy finished 4-2-2 for second overall in the WSX Class. In the SX2 Class, Max Anstie finished 2-1-2 for second overall. The guys overseas at Gate Drop MX provided us with their post-race interviews with Roczen, Savatgy, and Anstie. Check out what the trio said about their respective day at the opening round.
Ken Roczen | 1st overall in WSX Class
Ken Roczen, you won everything—well almost everything except for Vince Friese in that second moto. You made it pretty exciting for the fans, those bad starts probably aren’t what you wanted, but it was good racing for the fans. How do you sum it up?
Ken Roczen: Yeah, it was difficult. After the gate it was really hard packed, the start straight’s really short. I haven’t been doing a whole lot of starts, I have been riding some moto. I rode one day of supercross and kind of just neglected it a little bit and just felt a little bit like a fish out of water when it came to that. That won’t happen for the next round, we have a long time right now. So, I just need to get those dialed in a little bit. I’ve got a great crew behind me, so we have some ideas we want to try to the motorcycle as well, to just improve it. But overall, I struggled really badly here with jet lag the last three days. Today was probably the worst day out of all of them, I was extremely tired. Nonetheless, when it comes to race time you want to put down your focus, so I was ready to race tonight. But it was tough because I was really bogging down at some point and trying to get in a little nap. I am glad I guess that this race is over, and we are healthy, and I got the W on top of that. So, this was a tough one for me. I don’t remember struggling like that last year, but I was also here for like ten days when we went to London, so I had a little bit more time to adjust and get some proper sleep. And I didn’t really ever get that here, so that was a tough one for sure.
You were doing a triple there out of the corner, before the actual triple. You were the only one that I saw do it at least, how was that? Out of the left hander you were going wide and everyone else was doubling.
Yeah, I don’t know it was just a berm to rely on a little bit. It got really marbly, we had a lot of different types of dirt today, at first it was really tacky, it got super dry and marbly. It got rocky and then as it got darker the moisture came back out. So, it was a super funky track. A lot of rocks, we had to be really timid to go to the inside and sweep it around. But I just try to be creative and see what’s the fastest way, so I am always trying to adjust.
Your first laps are so impressive, like I said, you got bad starts but you’re just bang bang bang making the right decisions all of the time. With the speeds there, how do you do it? I mean, you can do it outdoors, indoors, wherever.
Yeah, I think it's just, I have done a lot of work and when I am comfortable on a bike that’s just something that when you ride against stiff competition that’s what you have to do, you know? But like you said, it comes a little bit natural to me, especially in motocross as soon as the gate drops and you are back, you don’t have much time, so you’ve got to lay it down. But it's track dependent too, and everybody can get a little sketchy, so you’ve got to be smart.
And your dad, he obviously did a great job with you, but he worked with Jett Lawrence as well. Two weeks ago, you were battling with him at High Point and I kept wondering what is your dad thinking, watching the two of you at the front? What does he do for you and what are his skills at getting you so good?
I have to say a big time thanks to my dad the way he raised me and stuff. He took them [Lawrence brothers] under his wing and showed them the ropes, how he did it back in the day and I think that’s what they took over to the US as well. Just a lot of guidance, that’s where it started, and then they were able to go off and do their own thing. Yeah, it helps out. Obviously, he [Jett] has super good skills, he’s fit, he’s strong and he’s young, right, and really hungry. But I try to work for myself because eventually I am going to have to beat him. [Laughs] But obviously he is the new up and coming things, so he’s a tough one to beat.
Joey Savatgy | 2nd overall in WSX Class
Joey Savatgy—round one in the books. You were consistent, I would say you maybe didn’t have the speed that you had at the end of the last world supercross season, how do you sum it up?
Joey Savatgy: Yeah, it was good. We definitely weren’t the fastest by any means. We got off the gate okay, the last one was our best, which helped us. The bike hasn’t changed at all since last year, I mean literally there hasn’t even been any clicker changes, so I knew I was kind of up against the wall, but to get out of the first one healthy and be on the box is a positive. So, five more to go with some time in between to hopefully get some testing done and fine tuning. All in all, a good place to start.
You got a good look at Ken Roczen that last moto, what can you learn that he was doing there for the coming rounds?
Well his bike… I am just struggling to get my bike turned so it's something that we need to work on. I mean, Kenny is good, regardless of what bike he is on. He is very talented on a motorcycle, so I think he’s the one that we are all chasing. On a track like tonight, it's really hard to get separation, not a lot of rhythms or anything that anyone was doing that no one else was. So, it makes it tough—it's a little tiring because you are trying to push through everything to make up time. Where Kenny is good is he is able to carry momentum. So, like I said, I know what we need to work on, we need to try to get the motorcycle better.
So, Vince Friese said in the press conference that he believes he can beat Ken and you smirked, and Ken smirked a little bit, from your point of view do you believe you can beat him?
Hats off to Vince, you know, he doesn’t lack confidence. But again, today Vince was fast, but on a track where there wasn’t much separation, it's really about starts. And Vince was able to put himself in the front the first two, even the third one. Had he been behind us to start with I am pretty confident we wouldn’t had seen what we saw. But at the end of the day, he was good—he got out of the gate good, and he was fast. The smirk was just, I don’t know, it is what it is, I give him all the credit in the world, he rode good today and the confidence from him is obviously at an all-time high. But I don’t fault him for it, we will focus on us and move forward.
Your AMA Supercross season you did about half of the rounds, I was in Tampa, and you were really fast. Did you impress yourself, or were you expecting to be that good, because in World Supercross obviously you were really fast last year.
Again, I know what we are up against with limited testing—we are at a disadvantage. But all I can do is show up on the weekend and do the best that I can do and wherever that puts us is where it puts us. Again, to be walking out of round one on the box was the goal, how the day was going it was going to be tough because I had a hard time finding a flow. But on a track that I didn’t feel the most comfortable on, we were able to pull out a rabbit and land on the box, so we’ll take it.
So, is supercross only your future or do you think you will do full time in America again—is that the goal?
I don’t know, it's a little hard to say at this point—my future is a little unknown. All I am focused on right now is getting undressed and going to have a shower and worry about food. [Laughs] The future is unknown for a reason, and for me I know what I want to do, and I want to race, and I want to be competitive. So, where that ends up being is where I end up.
I always thought you would be good at GPs [FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP)] because you were always fast and fit at the end of the races. Was that ever a goal of yours?
Honestly, no. I just don’t have any interest right now. That could always change but for now it's not in my future.
Max Anstie | 2nd overall in SX2 Class
Max, that was a great performance but it was so close to that GP win.
Max Anstie: Of course. It's always fun riding at home, it's busy, we’ve got a lot going on. I am happy to come out of here as solid and as close as we were, take it and move forward into these next few rounds. My goal is the championship and that’s what I am gunning for. I just want to be solid and consistent, maximize the points, don’t do anything silly. For a home GP there’s a lot on the line. It's busy and easy to throw things away, so I am happy to come out of here. Round one was solid, and we can move forward.
You had that moment you went for the pass after the restart. It didn’t quite work, but that was the moment to win the GP and it turned out that was the moment you didn’t.
Yeah exactly, it was slick, I just slid out. I slid going into the turn, it is what it is, gotta go for it. But at the end of the day, you make the most of it.
You had a great rhythm until the red flag, it looked like it took you awhile to find your flow again in the restart, is that true?
It's just a lot of stop and go, isn’t it? Four times we are out and back and then out. Definitely the different program is a bit tricky, but happy with the performance.
The fans were really loud for you, can you tell us what that feels like?
It's wild—at the end of the day it's so cool having that. And to be honest the racing was fun, tight racing probably made it interesting for everyone. None of us checked out or anything. It was cool and pretty amazing for everyone.
Are the three starts as physical as a main event? How does it compare?
No, the track is different. The track is tighter, so setup is different, it's easier to get arm pump, that kind of thing. Different. It's different, I didn’t feel as physically tired, I felt more mentally tired. I think that was more from the talking and obligations of seeing everyone that I’ve had to do, it's been pretty busy. Happy with the performance, we can move on now.
You have a good chance of being World Champion. That would sound pretty cool, but a long way to go still—you can’t get too ahead of yourself.
Got to do the best job I can, that’s the plan, that’s the goal so thank you.