For anyone to have accomplished what Ken Roczen accomplished in 2014 would have put them in the running to be named the Rider of the Year, but when you consider all that Roczen had to overcome to get where he is today, it was almost a no-brainer. Roczen’s story is remarkable, and his road to the 2014 AMA 450cc National Motocross Championship, in his rookie 450cc season, was completely different from any of his competitors’.
We’ll start at the beginning.
CROSSING OCEANS
Unlike any of his 450cc competitors in this year’s outdoor-title chase, Ken Roczen didn’t grow up in the USA. He just grew up dreaming of the USA. And if you haven’t lived it, it’s hard to understand how big of a difference that makes in a racer’s life.
“When I was younger, all I watched was American racing; especially Supercross,” Roczen said. “For some reason, it was always Supercross. Obviously, it’s something I’d never even seen before, and everything just seemed so big. The first time in my life, in 2008 I believe it was, I came to the USA, and it was pretty insane to see how the whole dirt-bike scene is here.”
He couldn’t believe how big it all was—how many people were involved, how many racers, etc.
“It’s so different, the tracks and everything,” Roczen said. “It was just hard for me to believe that I was going to be there anytime soon. But then, next thing I knew, I was already here! But I hadn’t even ridden really any Supercross races in Europe, besides Dortmund once, and you can’t really compare that. When I came here the first year, it was in 2010. I had just signed with KTM from Suzuki over in Europe, and I hadn’t even ridden the KTM when I got here. I came here and rode the KTM for the first time at a Supercross track, and I didn’t know what I was doing. The suspension is so stiff. And I’d never even ridden on such big tracks before. And I came here in mid-November, so I had a little over a month to get ready [to race Anaheim 1 in 2011], so it was hectic. I winged it. I came here and I’d never been on a real Supercross track—never even walked one—and never really seen anybody really ride it up close before. You know, when you watch a lot you kind of see things. For me, it was like closing my eyes, then opening my eyes and I’m on the track and you kind of just go for it and try to figure it out. That’s what it was. It was pretty insane. I think I learned pretty quick.”
He did. At the first few races in 2011, 16-year-old Roczen put in good lap times, but he had considerable trouble putting a whole race together. Roczen achieved a podium at Anaheim 2 that year before he went back to Europe to start the MX2 World Championship. While in Europe, he missed the Seattle Supercross, and then returned to grab second place at the penultimate round in Salt Lake City. A week later, he won his first Supercross in Las Vegas before heading back to Europe to finish his dominant performance in his final MX2 World Championship series.
Not only did Roczen have to go back and forth across the Atlantic to race, but he also had to go from racing Supercross, to racing outdoor motocross, then back to Supercross. And he did that on bikes that were set up entirely different from one another, from the chassis setup for Supercross to the different engine and exhaust standards for U.S. racing as compared to the GPs.
“Just that, and you know how it is when you race a little outdoors in between and then you go back to Supercross,” Roczen said. “But actually, that almost made me a better rider. But it just seemed like there was so much. Like every year I’ve felt like I learned so much and everything just kind of changed—my mindset going into Supercross every year. And still now, you know? Obviously, after a few years, you’re just way more confident, you know how it is, you know how the bike is working and stuff like that.”
To read more of our Rider of the Year interview with Ken Roczen in issue 50 of Cycle News, click here