Photo by: Hoppenworld
The 2017 “Silly Season” has seen a myriad of riders swap teams, but the biggest team change of the year was Ken Roczen leaving RCH / Soaring Eagle / Suzuki and signing with HRC / Honda for the next three years. For the second time in Kenny’s young career, he won the 450MX AMA National Championship and taken the #1 plate to a new team. With that, the pressure was high for both Kenny and Honda to silence the critics at Saturday night’s 2016 Monster Energy Cup and show that the 2017 Honda is ready for the rider that some consider the best rider in he world. They definitely accomplished that.
In moto one, Kenny grabbed the holeshot and ran away for the opening moto win. In moto two, Kenny again got the lead and looked well on his way to starting his relationship with Honda with two straight wins, but it all went sideways quickly. While going through the long rhythm section, Kenny made a small mistake that turned into a spectacular crash. The #1 ejected from the machine and a possible million dollar payday was over with a moto two DNF.
When the gate dropped for moto three, Roczen was surprisingly back on the gate and quickly battling for his second win on the night. It was Mike Alessi with the early lead, but Kenny wore the #800 down, passed him and walked away with the win. The moto three win had to be a bittersweet victory knowing he was only a mistake away from a million dollars, but with just a short time to prepare the new machine, it still was a great day for Kenny and the team. The 1-21-1 was good enough for 7th overall, but Kenny knows he was the best rider on Saturday night.
After the lights went out in Vegas, we caught up with Kenny to talk about his Monster Cup, the new Honda and more.
Kenny, you looked really good all day except for that one part [crash in main event 2]. (laughs) Can you talk about the adjustments you made throughout the day as you were learning your bike?
I made a very very small adjustment. It was just a click here and there. I feel really good with the bike already as you can tell. Everything came super natural to me, and we haven’t even done our good testing yet. It was great to come out here and see, but at the same time we have a lot more in our pocket. It started off with the first moto being pretty amazing. I got the holeshot and just rode really good—felt really great.
In the second moto, I didn’t get too good of a start, but I snuck around the inside. I was leading and everything was great, I just made a mistake in the corner. I slid out a little bit and doubled, so for the next triple I took a different line ’cause that’s kind of where it through me to. The transitions weren’t very good today and the track was hard so the track was super notchy. So I gave it the berries [twisted the throttle] a little bit and over jumped it a bit. That compression through me off balance and I came up short a little bit and the next transition was super steep. It kind of just bucked me forward and I had to jump off. That was the end of that.
I came out in the next moto and got another really, really good start. I was riding super shitty in the last one and just stayed on two wheels. The track was terrible and I guess grabbed another win. I wasn’t too happy with my riding, but that’s fine.
Obviously, you were healthy enough to ride the third moto. Are you okay, though?
Yeah, yeah, I’m completely fine! I literally have a black nail on my toe, but it’s alright.
Your right toe, right?
Yeah, my right toe. How did you know?
Because when you hit the ground, it looked like your right leg buckled out weird and like it caught under you. I was worried about your knee or your ankle.
No, it’s fine. It’s just my toe. It’s not that it’s really bad; it’s just a little pinch.
What do you attribute your comfort on the new Honda to so quickly?
Even those guys [HRC Team] said they’ve never got a new bike and had it that easy. I guess it was just a really good build. It makes it a lot easier on us. It didn’t need a whole lot of work to make it good already, but we have a lot more in our pocket.
In that first race, one particular spot I saw was before the finish line jump. That right hander looked like it had a rough rut, and it looked like you were bouncing around.
I got bumped there once a little bit. The first moto was really weird ’cause it was super wet and super slick, and I honestly hated the track all fricken day. What are you going to do with the wind like this for three days, and it was so hard. It was just terrible.
Did the wind affect much?
Not riding conditions.
You could have packed it up after that second moto crash. Was the motivation to get back out there for more seat time?
Well, we got another race to go, and I was fine. I wasn’t injured, so I was ready to go for two motos, totally.
What’s the biggest difference between your old Suzuki and the factory Honda?
That’s a hard question. It’s a new bike, and I’m stoked about the opportunity. Just working with those guys, you can just tell that everything is top notch and their minds are always working.
After that first race went so well and you were leading the second race, were there any thoughts about the million dollars?
No, not at all. I was super relaxed honestly all day. I feel like even if I brought that one home, it wouldn’t really have phased me that much.
Are you racing Straight Rhythm next week?
I wasn’t planning on it, but now Red Bull is wanting me to. There’s actually no way because those guys [HRC Honda] are flying to Japan, and I’m going to Alabama next week for the 2017 bike launch. We literally have no crew and no bike ready. Unfortunately, I can’t ride it.
Any more off season races for you at all?
No.
It looks like you got a new toy [motorhome]. Are you and [Justin] Barcia going to have a battle?
Screw that guy! Let’s not talk about that guy. (laughs) You would be surprised. You pay four-hundred grand for a motorhome, and you think that’s literally a good house, but they break. They’re not made to travel, so you have to really dig deeper in your pocket and bite into the sour apple and get something that has a little more of a tour bus chasis. It’s made to go more miles. I look at is as an investment.
