If you were looking forward to watching Ken Roczen ride inAMA Supercross for the remainder of 2022, we have bad news. Earlier this month, the Honda HRC racer announced through his team that he has “decided to take a break from the 2022 AMA Supercross series.”
We don’t have much information other than that, but there’s plenty of speculation in racing circles. He was seriously injured riding in 2017 and 2018, and though he came back from those injuries, he sat out the whole of the AMA Pro Motocross series for the 2020 season. He has also suffered from separate bouts of Epstein-Barr virus as well as COVID-19. Some folks even speculate that he may be retiring:
It’s Tough
Supercross riding and racing is an extremely taxing sport. It’s evident that Roczen does not feel like he is at the top of his game. Continuing to race 450SX for the rest of the Supercross season won’t let him recover his health the way he needs to.
Honda Says
From Honda’s press release: “Roczen hasn’t been able to put the issues behind him, and rather than risk a downward spiral in health and morale, he and his team have made the difficult decision for him to withdraw. During his hiatus, Roczen will seek professional treatment from specialists he has worked with in the past, including some in Europe. His exact return date will depend on how that process goes.”
The 27-year-old German native currently calls Florida home. A recent post on his Instagram account reads “I’ll be back as always.”
Roczen’s History
Number 94 holds two AMA Pro Motocross 450 championships, from 2014 and 2016. He holds twenty (20) career AMA Supercross 450SX wins, and twenty (20) career AMA Pro Motocross 450 wins. Roczen was the youngest rider ever, at 17, to score the MX2 World Championship, in 2011. He then moved to the States and won the AMA Supercross 250SX West title in 2013. In 2021 he finished second in AMA Supercross and third in AMA Pro Motocross.
It’s never easy to give something up because your health doesn’t allow it anymore, and it must be especially so at the age of 27. We send our best wishes for a speedy recovery!
