Roczen Scores Impressive Moto Win en Route to Second Overall at Budds Creek National

Ken Roczen  ⁹⁴

“The first moto was great. I had a good battle with Marvin [Musquin] going through most the race and once there were only five laps left, I just told myself that I better pull this off and get the win. I was trying to just keep it steady, but if Marvin was still close behind me, I was going to try and put on a charge the last couple laps; luckily I didn’t really have to. It was my shot at the overall today, but unfortunately I got sick halfway through the week and definitely wasn’t feeling it this morning and it caught up with me in the second moto. I just ran out of steam at the end and let those guys get by me. I gave it my all out there and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for the overall again, but I just want to get this season over with healthy and giving each race all that I have–today, that was it. We’re going to take what we’ve learned to regroup for this off-season, and come back to crush it next year. I’m happy with where I’m at this season, but at the same time, I’m a winner and I want to win. I try to put it into perspective because I was here last year hurt and I would’ve taken a day of racing sick and in the heat over anything, so to be back a year later fighting for wins and getting second overall is pretty dang good.”

Erik Kehoe

Team Manager

“After struggling last weekend in the mud, it’s great to have Ken back on the podium today. He fought hard in the first moto to get that win and it meant a lot to not only him but the team as well. He’s been doing so good this season that we’ve come to expect him to be up front and battling, but I’m really happy with how Ken’s stuck to the plan this season. He’s stayed patient while building and learning each week. It’s already been a great season, so we’re looking forward to ending on a solid note next weekend in Indiana and to start focusing on 2019.”

Oscar Wirdeman

Mechanic (Ken Roczen)

“Today’s moto win means way more because even though a win is a win, this one was straight up, with Ken fighting for it from start to finish. At Red Bud, [Eli] Tomac’s bike broke and Marvin [Musquin] crashed, so we kind of got lucky. I’m surprised, but I’m not. I knew he could do it but with how he was feeling today I didn’t know he’d be able to pull it off. He started this morning off a little under the weather, so he struggled in the first practice but got it together for the second session and was able to qualify fifth. He got a pretty bad jump in the first moto but was really strong down the start-straight, coming out in second, which was impressive. He got into the lead and rode good the whole race. I honestly expected him to get a little tired by the end just because he wasn’t feeling great but he actually put together one of his faster laps of the race in the final few laps. The second moto was about the same; he got a decent start, rode in the lead for most the race, then with about six laps to go he just ran out of steam. The others guy didn’t go faster, we just went slower. Bike-wise, we didn’t make too many adjustments to the suspension. We started with the shock from Washougal because he did so well there but after the first practice he thought it was too soft and wanted to go back to the one from Unadilla, which is a little stiffer. We weren’t completely sure how he’d like it here since he only got one dry practice on it in New York, but it ended up being better and he really liked it. Other than that, it was just some little fine tuning throughout the day.”