Ken Roczen on Three More Years

Ken Roczen on Three More Years

Last week, American Honda announced that it had signed former Supercross and 450 National MC Champion Ken Roczen to a three-year contract extension. The popular German racer has overcome two massive injuries in the past three years and his return to form has everyone – including us – waiting for his return to the top step of the podium. We caught up with Roczen at yesterday’s press day activities at the Las Vegas Supercross finals.

Congratulations on the big news. When did you guys finally get to put pen to paper?

Actually quite a few weeks ago. Probably around Daytona time but we were just waiting to make the announcement. It just made a lot of sense to do it around the end of the season. It was huge, you know? I feel like we haven’t really shown what we can do yet. For me, my heart has always been in the red pits and I’m excited to stay here for the next three years. I think we have some big things in store for us.

Was there ever a time that either you or the team were nervous, as you haven’t gotten the results yet that you both really want? Did it ever get a little bit tense?

No, not really. They have been nothing but supportive this entire time. No pressure. After what has happened in the last couple of years. Sometimes we have to be more patient than we want to be. We have to be smart and for me, I am thinking long term. I haven’t won anything yet but I have had more bad luck in the last three years. Everything hasn’t fallen into place for me yet but I have to think that this bad luck will wear off and my time will come. I have to keep thinking positive and on their side, they are so supportive and will do anything to make their riders comfortable. I am happy to have them on my side and to keep this going and the security is nice.

You have done a really good job of branding yourself with the companies that back you. Art of Sport, Red Bull, and Breitling is the newest one. Honda has also done a tremendous job of using you in their marketing. For you, this makes you the face of the brands the same way Marc Marquez has done. Is this part of the reason you stayed with Honda?

That’s what’s cool about Honda. They have their hands in so many areas like UTVs and autos and everything. And for outside sponsors, I like to stand out instead of fitting in. So big brands like Breitling and Art of Sport going on, I like to do that kind of stuff. So I think no matter where I was it would kind of be the same. That’s just my personal things that I like. When it comes to the clothes that I wear and stuff…I am really into fashion and stuff and I don’t know if other riders are like that but that’s just me.

When you first signed with Honda, everyone thought, “Honda is so corporate and Kenny does what he wants! There is going to be some friction!”

Listen, when they hired me they knew what they were getting into. You can’t catch a lion and put it in the backyard and expect it to be a sweet little kitty. That’s just me. That’ my character and I like doing all that stuff so they knew what they were getting. (Laughs)

There have been people saying that you were looking elsewhere because it wasn’t working out with Honda. With the deal being done for so long now, were you just laughing at the rumors?

I haven’t heard any of that. I don’t think I have been putting out a vibe that I ever wanted to be anywhere else. I have been having some other struggles that have kept me from focusing on that kind of stuff. I just want to focus on getting back to the top and getting up to 100% and right now that hasn’t been the case.

We’ve got outdoors coming up and you are struggling with some physical issues. Are you pumped for that or…

It’s definitely a work in progress. I am going to see a couple of specialists in Stanford this week to get tested. Things just haven’t been right and you can see that in my riding. Even in Nashville, I felt terrible there but my riding was really good. It doesn’t help me talking about my problems on race day. What really kickstarted it off, I was San Diego, the whole lime incident. I had these burns that got infected and I had to be on antibiotics and then I got really sick. Something must have happened with my immune system. So then they put me on another antibiotic cycle and that really collapsed me. There were times that I was here racing on the weekends that I felt like I was going to collapse. People think I am making excused but I don’t need a freaking excuse. I don’t want to talk about that crap all the time. But I started going uphill. Minneapolis…I was doing really well and gaining confidence. But then we got to Detroit and I was just smoked and we had the Triple Crown race there. I was tired before the first main event. From there it has been bad I can’t even train in the week.

So are you going to be able to race outdoors?

We have an idea of what is wrong now, yes. We are just waiting for some confirmation from these specialists at Stanford to get in there. 

You’re a young guy at 25. Was there ever a time that you thought that you should start winding things down or have you always felt that you would race into your thirties?

I don’t know about racing into my thirties. But there have been years like 2016 that I felt were my year. There were years that I felt like everything was in place and all I had to do was ride. Those are the good years. But these last few have taken like ten years off of my life. (Laughs) So I am hoping for a little more consistency and easy living you know? These last few months I have been scrambling. 

Do you think that all of the surgeries you have had have contributed to these health issues you are having now?

Oh, yeah. A lot of doctors say that all of the surgeries and the trauma, and all of the antibiotics…my body has definitely changed over the years.