Words by: Dan Lamb – Interview by: Chase Yocom
While there was a lot of hype surrounding the 2013 250SX graduating class that consisted of Red Bull/KTM’s Ken Roczen and the GEICO/Honda riders Eli Tomac and Wil Hahn, we don’t think anyone foresaw them winning races or battling for a 450SX Championship in 2014. All three came into the 450SX class with championship pedigree, but with the depth in the class, most thought it would take at least one learning year before getting into the mix. Well, in the case of the German Roczen, it took exactly twenty-laps into 2014 for him to get his first win and quickly enter the mix. Since shocking everyone with his win at Anaheim 1, Kenny has maintained consistent results, brings two wins and five podiums with him into the second half of the season and sits in second place in the 450SX Championship—just nine points behind his training partner Ryan Villopoto.
In Atlanta, Kenny also showed that not only can he win from the front, but he can also catch, pass and straight up beat the three-time defending 450SX Champion from behind. After grabbing a top-five start in Atlanta, Roczen quickly passed Villopoto for third and latched onto James Stewart’s rear wheel. On lap two, Stewart took himself out of the equation when he crashed, but while trying to hunt down the early leader, MotoConcepts’ Mike Alessi, Ken made a mistake over the finish line double and surrendered second to RV. From there, the #94 followed RV past Alessi, and despite losing ground to RV in the middle of the main event, he was able to close the gap once again on the #1. Then, on lap fourteen, Villopoto made a mistake of his own, and Ken was able to jump over Villopoto, take over the lead and cruise it home for the second win of his rookie campaign.
You can watch the Roczen-Villopoto battle through the lens of their GoPro camera’s below
After Ken’s win in Atlanta, MotoXAddicts’ Chase Yocom caught up with him in the pits and asked him a few questions. You can read the interview below.
Hey, Ken, you just scored win number two. That’s gotta feel good. Can you take us through your day?
Yeah, in practice I didn’t do that good. I have a little bit of a cold and wasn’t feeling it, but I was feeling pretty decent in the heat race. In the main event, I grabbed a pretty decent start, ran up front the whole time and made a little mistake, so RV came by. Then, later, he made the same mistake on a different part of the track, so I got by him again. Then I led til the end, and it definitely feels good to be on the very top of the box. It’s good to be on the podium, but getting the win is always something special.
You talked about both you and RV making mistakes, and we’ve heard that may have been because the Georgia clay was more slippery than normal tonight. What did you think of the track conditions?
It was tacky in some spots, and some spots were really loose and slippery. It was definitely tricky. In between the rhythm sections, it was soft and rutty. It was kind of gnarly, and you had to have a lot of focus throughout the whole race. It was definitely a tough race.
Your setup looked like one of the better ones tonight, but were there any big changes because of track conditions?
Yeah, after the first practice we went stiffer on the front and the rear. It was so tacky that it would just suck the bike down.
I noticed you guys began jumping through the whoops tonight. At about what point did that start, and was it how they were breaking down that made you guys change it up?
I don’t know. I’d say it was on about lap eight or something like that. The whoops were tough tonight. It was just a problem that the turn was so tight and small so you couldn’t carry a lot of speed into them. So you just hit them at the bottom, and if you hit a square edge the bike would go sideways.
Alright, well, thanks for talking to us about the race, and we’ll let you get to all these fans crowded around you right now. Good luck next weekend.
Thanks and no problem.
