Team Honda HRC Confirm 2020 Riders

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Team Honda HRC has confirmed their rider roster for the 2020 race season with Ken Roczen, Justin Brayton, and Chase Sexton. The team’s plan is unique in that Brayton and Sexton will split duties during the year, with Brayton in the spot during the Monster Energy Supercross Series and Sexton during the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. This is a very big deal for Sexton because it’s the start of a new contract that will keep him with Honda through 2023.

Roczen’s inclusion comes thanks to a three-year contract extension he inked with the team earlier this year, a deal that is widely expected to be the one that carries him through the end of his career. This past season was important for Roczen in that he completed all 29 rounds of the Monster Energy Supercross Series and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, even with a hard crash at the Houston Supercross and an energy-draining illness that he managed through the summer. Now in the offseason, Roczen will sit out the Motocross of Nations and the Monster Energy Cup events to rest up and get back to normal. With a good year behind him, Roczen is widely considered to be a title contender indoors and outdoors in 2020.

Brayton’s spot on the team has been worked out through the summer, a deal that came up after Cole Seely’s midseason retirement and was worked out with the SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts/Honda team. The veteran racer has set up a Supercross-only program but still competes during much of the year in the Monster Energy Supercross Series, the Australian Supercross Championship (he is the defending champion of this series), and select events in Europe (he is on the entry list for the Paris Supercross this year). The upcoming year was widely expected to be Brayton’s last as a professional racer, as his current contract with MCR runs just through 2020, but he recently told us that he feels better than ever and that time on the factory bike could add a few more years to his career. Brayton previously rode for Team Honda HRC in 2012 with a one-year contract.

The biggest element to this announcement pertains to Chase Sexton, as it confirms his advancement to the 450 class with a three-year contract. Sexton claimed the 250 East Coast regional championship in the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series and was one of the faster riders of the small-bore class outdoors until he developed health issues after a moto win in the heat at the Florida Motocross. The 250 SX title put Sexton at the top of Honda’s development program and he was widely expected to join the factory team full-time after the 2020 season, but after he expressed some dissatisfaction with the performance of the CRF250R during the summer, his advancement to the premier class was fast-tracked. Sexton will move to the 450 during the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in 2020 and will then run the class full-time in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The full press release, including quotes from Brayton/Sexton/MCR’s Mike Genova/GEICO Honda’s Jeff Majkrzak/Honda’s Brandon Wilson, is posted in full below…

Team Honda HRC announced today their roster of racers for the 2020 race season, with a unique arrangement that will see two different riders competing in separate series alongside Ken Roczen, who earlier this year signed an extension to his agreement. Joining the factory squad during the AMA Supercross series will be Justin Brayton, who has ridden for the Smartop/MotoConcepts/Bullfrog Spas Honda team for the past three years and had planned to continue in that partnership until this opportunity arose. For the AMA Pro Motocross series, Brayton will pass the baton to current GEICO Honda rider and reigning 250SX East Champion Chase Sexton, who will join the factory 450 effort fulltime at that point.

A veteran rider with a solid résumé, Brayton brings experience and consistency to the table for the 17-race Supercross series. This isn’t his first stint with the team, as he raced with the factory Honda squad in 2012, when he scored his career-best series-overall placing of fourth, achieved with the help of five podium finishes and six additional top-five results. Since Brayton’s return to the Honda brand in 2017, he and the MotoConcepts team have opted to race Supercross only, and he has continued to log impressive rides including his first-ever victory, in 2018 aboard the MotoConcepts bike at Daytona—arguably the most challenging stop on the circuit. The Iowa native is also a two-time Australian Supercross Champion and will in fact return Down Under this fall to defend that title with the Penrite Honda squad before turning his attention to preparing for 2020 aboard a Team Honda HRC CRF450R.

“I’m beyond excited to be riding for factory Honda in the 2020 Supercross season,” said Brayton, 35. “Riding with the team in 2012 was the achievement of a dream for me, and I had my best season so far that year. Now I feel like I’m living my dream all over again, just a little older and more experienced to be able to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

“Justin has been nothing less than professional and respectful since the idea of his joining the Honda team was presented,” said Mike Genova, MotoConcepts team owner. “Justin has been a positive force on the MotoConcepts team, and I wish him nothing but the best in his future.”

Meanwhile, Sexton will have the opportunity to once again campaign the 2020 250SX series with GEICO Honda before moving up to the CRF450R for AMA Pro Motocross. The Illinois native will not defend his East crown in Supercross, but will instead ride a CRF250R in the West region before beginning his Team Honda HRC agreement, which currently runs through the 2023 season. There’s also a possibility of him periodically competing in the 450SX class at East rounds, as a wildcard rider.

“I’m super excited to be joining Team Honda HRC,” Sexton said. “Factory Honda is a team that I’ve wanted to ride for since I was a kid, so to have this opportunity is honestly a dream come true. I’m looking forward to starting this journey with them, and I think it will be a successful one. I think the CRF450R suits me because I’m a bigger guy and I ride it well. Still, 2020 is going to be a learning year for sure. I’m just getting my feet wet in the 450 class, and it will be good to have an outdoor series under my belt to get me ready for a full 17-round 2021 Supercross series. I’m also looking forward to being teammates with Ken. We’re pretty close friends and train together every day, so I think this will push us both and take us to the next level. You couldn’t ask for a better guy to have under the tent, with his speed and knowledge.”

“We’re really happy to see Chase get this opportunity,” said GEICO Honda co-owner Jeff Majkrzak. “He started with us in our Amsoil Honda amateur program and transitioned into GEICO Honda when he turned pro, and he has been a pleasure to work with the entire time. He has grown a lot in the last year or so, and he has earned this next step in his career. We look forward to working with him during his final 250SX series, and then to watching him progress on 450s.”

Brandon Wilson, American Honda’s Manager of Advertising & Motorcycle Sports, explained that although switching riders midyear is unusual, it makes sense for the team considering the circumstances.

“It really started with Chase progressing so quickly,” Wilson said. “He’s someone that we already had our eye on for the future, and he rides a 450 really well, with a lot of speed and confidence. We thought starting him off outdoors would ease his transition, with no expectations other than to learn the team, bike and competition before rolling all that into his first full year on 450s in 2021. We also thought what a great fit it would be to have Justin come onboard just for Supercross. He’s a Honda guy, and he understands our team structure and knows many staff members from his years on a Honda, which should allow for a smooth transition. Lastly, he’s a veteran of the sport, with a wealth of knowledge, which should benefit our program on many levels. I’d also like to express gratitude to our amazing partners, Smartop/MotoConcepts/Bullfrog Spas Honda’s Mike Genova and Tony Alessi, and GEICO Honda’s Jeff Majkrzak and Rick Zielfelder, all of whom were incredibly supportive with both of these ideas. Everyone here at Honda thanks them for working with us. We’re looking forward to a solid year from all of our riders and teams.”