For the second year in a row, Ken Roczen has started off Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Anaheim 1 with a second-place finish. Kenny looked fast all day, he was third in qualifying and then started off the night show with a heat race win. Kenny started about fourth in the main event and quickly found his way into second, where he was able to match leader Eli Tomac’s pace, but was not able to make up any ground.
“The entire main event, the 20 plus one, I feel like we were bouncing between one second,” said Roczen. “I would gain a little bit and then he would make it back, it was going like that the whole time, it kind of pissed me off a little bit. Because every time that you get a little bit closer, I was hoping I could just latch onto that and keep going. But unfortunately, it wasn’t there.”
While finishing well at the start of the season is nothing new for Ken, (he has four wins at the opener), one thing has changed and that is his confidence and comfort on his motorcycle. A few years ago, Ken had a bit of a reputation for never being quite happy with his bikes, always searching for the perfect set up. But that has changed since he has gotten on his Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki.
As Ken mentioned, “I have a lot of confidence in my motorcycle, I feel like it's working really well for me personally. And I think ultimately, not making any changes to the bike for months and months on end, I just have ridden it on all kinds of different dirt conditions. So, I mean things can always happen, you can crash, be caught off guard, but overall, I just know my motorcycle.”
When Ken says he hasn’t changed his bike in a while he really means it.
“I literally haven’t done one click change since probably before Daytona," he said. "I haven’t touched it, I am a little bit scared to mess it up, I just know it very well. We always attempt to test, like we have it in our minds and them I am like, ‘No, I am just riding.’ Because like I said I have ridden it on hard pack, sandy, clay, it doesn’t matter. And other things it could be better at times, maybe, but I am a little bit worried about messing other areas up as well. And I think my riding shows that the bike’s plenty good enough to be up on top of the box.”
While so many other riders are dealing with switching bike brands, Ken is already comfortable in all conditions. And a comfortable Ken Roczen is a fast Ken Roczen. If he can add consistency to his repertoire for 2026, things might just get interesting for the #94.
