After three rounds of the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), and two wins, Ken Roczen sits in the points lead. However, now he is going to skip the last two rounds to prepare for Monster Energy AMA Supercross. WSX in Australia provided a wild night of racing, with three different race winners. Roczen won race one, and was the most consistent throughout the night, despite bad starts, to come away with the overall win. Steve Matthes caught up with Ken after the race to get his take not only on his race, but also on his decision to not race all rounds of WSX.
Racer X: Okay, Ken Roczen. Wow. I've seen you ride a lot, so I've seen some great races.You're really on it right now, though. Just your starts were garbage. You can only go so fast on the track like that, and you were still going really fast. Good job.
Ken Roczen: Thank you, honestly the first one not as much, but the second and third one I would get out of the gate good and then wheel spin. I think everyone did [a little bit] but I got swallowed up and it gets decided within a thousandth of a second. And also, the first turn was so tight and so slippery. So even if you come in halfway decent, people are sliding all over. In the second one, I had to roll the whole section after that and then I was in the back and I felt like I was doing parade laps, like sight lap speed. I was just waiting. It's almost like my heart rate never went up in the beginning. Normally, I kinda get like aggressive and I'm like, I'm just gonna sit here and I don't know.
So, I saw you buried and I agree you had a great jump in the third one and then you got wheel spin. But then I look up and you're fifth and I'm like, “Wait, what?” So, I don't know if you're just that you're just that much better.
I honestly felt like I rode like garbage. Especially in the second one. Like, I don't know. It just wasn't great. And then in the last one I was really pissed about [the start] because I was buried, and I saw Eli up front. I know Coop and I were tied [for the overall], and I'm like, “F#$%. Like, I gotta go.” So, then I come around the turn before the triple and I hit the bumps, my boot hit the rear brake, and I cased the living crap out of that. In the air, and I thought my hands were gonna come off, I literally said in the helmet, I'm like, “Oh, no.” Cased it, went off the track, into the Tuff blocks, Coop, and Vince went back by, and I'm like, “Here we go.” So, I had to go past him again, and then, yeah, I just kinda attacked them. Once Eli was in front, and I saw those guys, came closer, closer, closer, and I was gonna go after Haiden. But after the red cross thing, he gapped me, and then it was over. It was like three or two laps to go or whatever, and I just stayed where I was. But I do feel I'm riding really well at the moment. Maybe the best I've ridden in a long time.
For sure. I thought your whoop speed wasn't the greatest, but also you didn't make any mistakes in them. You almost did them perfectly every time I felt, which was really good. Like no one could nail them consistently. I felt you did. Even though maybe Christian was hitting them a little faster.
Yeah. I felt like I was alright, and then the one time I passed Eli, I was really good in them. All the other runs, I felt like I was one of the best guys in the whoops, so I guess, pick your battles a little bit, but I feel like I've just been solid. I haven't changed my motorcycle in months and months and months, not even a click, no nothing. So, even if it's not perfect, I trust it and I kinda know what to expect, so I work around it.
I honestly wish, the track build was great, but they can't build a track with it bone dry. You know what I mean? There was no water in it and they said it was supposed to be a little bit of rain, whatever. Like, if it's gonna rain, it's gonna be a shit show anyway, but you can still put a little bit of moisture. You don't have to go ham. Put some moisture in it because then this makes for garbage racing, I feel like.
It looked tough. Do you like the format? You like these things, how they do it?
For the most part, yeah, once the racing starts, I'm fine with it. The rest, they have been going back and forth with the schedule. I'm not a fan of because we have one practice and then nothing for three or three and a half hours. I feel like I have to relearn the track the second time we go out. I did like Vancouver because we're all there on Friday anyway, so we got one practice on Friday. Yeah. And then Saturday, we had nothing for the most part of the day. And then it's free practice, qualifying, Super Pole, whatever and then keep going. So, yeah. I guess racing side, I'm fine. I wish they would make that practice maybe on Friday and then skip one.
So, you're done with the series now. A little bit of controversy on why. Whatever you wanna say, I don't know. But you're done with the series now.
Yeah. Okay, the part that ticks me off a little bit, that's been set in stone for a long time, and then now it's being said that, you know, I even read something where it's like, “Roczen kicked out of WSX.” Now it's being put that way. It's been set for a long time [that he was not going to race the whole series] but nobody mentioned it.
Cole [Nichols] said it on my show. Colt said, “I'm filling in for Kenny at some point in World Supercross.”
Yeah. So, and I've talked about it for a while. I said, “I'm only doing a few a few a few,” but then it just still looked like I was supposed to go to all of them, and then I wasn't. I never said that.
Related: Colt Nichols Will Inherit Ken Roczen's Spot at PMG Suzuki Starting at Next WSX Round in Sweden
Some of their social media was saying “He'll be there” like which is not cool, but I don't know if that's on purpose or just somebody mistaken, know. Yeah. Like maybe the person who runs a social media account doesn't really know.
Right. So, I've been talking about it. It's been set for a while and now I know that people are upset that I'm not going, but it's been [set that way] for a while. Yeah, I don't know.
You're riding really well. We got a little time before Anaheim and all that. Do you do a boot camp? You're old. You know what I mean? At this point, I don't ever hear you, like, “Doing a boot camp so and so.” So are you doing that or are you doing laps.
For me, so it's been hard. That ankle thing just really threw a curveball because it was, you walk into the surgery center. Normally, when you get surgery, you're busted up, you're lying on the stretcher or whatever. I could run and walk, but I couldn't ride because I had no stability with twists and all kinds of stuff. So, then I got then I got surgery, and then for three months, it was swollen. Did a lot of PT, trying to get stability and strength back in there. It really took a long time. But then I started racing, and, you know, I'm not fit enough because I, for two months again, just said, like, “I'm just gonna stop what I'm doing.” And then, of course, it looks bad, but I'm like, I wasn't race ready. So, all I was wanting is not necessarily so much commit to a boot camp, but I needed to be home for an extended period of time and get myself miserable without having to go race. Even with these races, you don't do anything all week. You know what I mean? You leave Sunday, the entire week is gone. You're trying recover, jet lag, all this stuff, then you race on Saturday. I need the day in, day out, like, doing my laps. Not overdo it and boot camp and go berserk. You know what I mean? But I needed to be home for a chunk of time and kinda get myself in in the spot that I needed to.
Feel good to win though tonight?
Yeah, I had to work for it. Like in the last one, my wife texted me and said, “Hey, you're tied with Cooper and so I'm like, “Okay.” But I also know that the last race is worth more than all the other ones, you know, and then I was so far back again. I saw Eli upfront. I'm like, “goddamn it!” And then at one point though, I did see that when I was fourth and I think it said “Need one more.” So, it was either Haiden or Eli, and so then I started attacking a little bit. Got Eli, and I wanted to go after Haiden, like I said, but then after a certain thing [red cross flag], he just kinda was too far away and it was two laps to go. So I just sat where I was at.
You rode really well, man. Good job. Thank you for doing this.
Thank you.
