The first round of AMA Supercross was an exciting one for Team Honda HRC as it saw the return of Ken Roczen, who scored an impressive fourth-place finish after being sidelined for nearly a year.
When the gate dropped for the main event, the German was slow off the line, leaving him outside the top 15 around the first turn. By the completion of the opening lap, Roczen had made his way into 12th. He continued his charge through the field, moving into sixth halfway through the 24-lap main event. Despite a mistake around the middle of the race, Roczen took the checkered flag in fourth.
“Earlier, I said if I win, get third, or fifth, it doesn’t matter and I’ll be happy, but when I came off the track, it did matter to me. I really wanted to win. I was bummed because halfway through, I had the speed and was catching those guys, but I made a mistake where I scrubbed and dragged my boot on the ground and almost crashed,” explained Roczen.
“I was riding a little tight and tried to shake it off, but towards the end I tried to just keep it smart. I didn’t want to do anything stupid because there’s a lot of racing left. The more I think about it, fourth place isn’t too bad. We could’ve had a way worse night, and I really think without that mistake I would’ve been on the podium. There were some nerves on the line just due to lack of experience starting with 20 riders. I kind of messed up both times and just dumped the clutch, so I was pretty far back in the main event, which was a little sketchy. I think if I had gotten a better start, my night would’ve been even better. I’m happy to be here and excited to keep racing.”
Despite having to shake off some pre-race nerves, Cole Seely put together a solid performance to finish sixth on the night. The Californian got off the line to a less-than-desirable start but made quick passes on the opening lap, moving into seventh. He gained one more position after that before settling into sixth.
