Ken Roczen, the 2014 and 2016 Pro Motocross champion, knew there would be a learning curve when he moved from the Factory Honda team to Pipes Motorsports Group Suzuki in 2023, so it was not surprising that he only managed one win that year. He thought his sophomore season with the team would be better overall, but his mixed performance in the first five rounds raised concerns.
In the early rounds, Roczen placed second twice in San Francisco and fifth in Detroit; however, his other three finishes placed him well outside of the top five. However, a rider usually only needs to gain momentum once to achieve a powerful outcome, and that was imminent.
In the sixth round of the Monster Energy Supercross series, Roczen defeated Jason Anderson by almost five seconds in Glendale, Arizona. Jett Lawrence, in third place, was over nine seconds behind. The tide seemed to be shifting.
An eighth-place result in Arlington, Texas, in the following round proved to be a brief setback. Following a four-race run in the top five, Roczen took a weekend off to finish outside the top 10 in St. Louis before placing third in Round 13 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Although these were the outcomes that everyone had come to anticipate, Roczen was too far behind Cooper Webb and Lawrence in the points standings, in fifth place, to be a significant contender for the championship.
Roczen experienced one of the most terrifying crashes of the season the following week in Nashville, Tennessee. On Lap 9 of the race, Roczen was pursuing Eli Tomac, the leader, when a shock broke. Roczen was thrown violently to the ground while riding in a smoke-filled fog, breaking his foot, toe, and tib plateau. Roczen was absent from the first eight Motocross rounds and the last three Supercross rounds.
The significance of getting back in the saddle of the bike as soon as possible is one consequence of the SuperMotocross World Championship. This is sometimes required to gain momentum and other times to move up a spot or two in the standings and improve one’s playoff seeding. The points weren’t necessary for Roczen. He would be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs because he finished well in the top 20. To hear him talk at the time, he wasn’t too worried about momentum and could, at most, catch up to Christian Craig. Roczen made the decision to enjoy himself. Despite his speedy practice, he finished ninth overall after mounting a 250 for the Ironman Nationals in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Roczen’s true objective
