There has been talk of RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing team’s Ken Roczen returning to the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series this weekend at the Houston Supercross, but according to a release from the team, that won’t happen.
Roczen injured his ankle at Atlanta I on February 21 then re-aggravated it at the Daytona Supercross and has been sidelined ever since.
“I’m back on the bike and doing a ton of cross training but it’s a tough decision and I’m super-bummed that I won’t be racing in Houston this weekend,” Roczen said. “I can’t wait to be back at the track but the team and I just want to make sure I am 100 percent. I can’t thank [team owners] Carey [Hart] and Ricky [Carmichael] enough for all of their support. If anyone understands this business and how injuries can go, it’s those two. All the fans and our sponsors have been awesome so I’m really thankful for all their support, too.”
“Ken is making progress but not coming along quite as quickly as we had originally hoped,” Carmichael said. “We all thought he could be ready to compete this weekend, but he’s just not 100 percent yet and that’s where we need him to be. Once he’s completely healthy, we can move forward to actual racing. Everybody at Soaring Eagle, Jimmy Johns, Suzuki and all the rest of our sponsors have been very gracious throughout this process so we’re fortunate to have companies who support RCH through these types of challenges.”
When might Roczen return? His status, according to the team, is week by week.
The RCH team, however, will still be represented at the Houston race by Broc Tickle on the number-20 Suzuki.
