Along with his team and family, Team Honda HRC rider Ken Roczen has decided to take a break from the 2022 AMA Supercross series. Roczen won the Anaheim Season 1 opener on Jan. convincing, but his results have since suffered as he battled health issues. With the constraints of the busy race schedule complicating progress, Roczen will retire from the series indefinitely, starting with this weekend’s Detroit round.
Roczen has dealt with the effects of the Epstein-Barr virus since recovering from serious injuries in 2017 and 2018, although he has made progress at various times, including after sitting out the entire series. 2020 AMA Pro Motocross. He was struck down with an unrelated illness at the end of the 2021 calendar year but was still able to pull off an upset win in the first event. Sadly, he hasn’t felt like himself since then, a situation that was made worse by a bout with Covid-19 just after the Jan. 22 round in San Diego. Roczen was unable to put the problems behind him, and rather than risk a downward spiral in health and morale, he and his team made the difficult decision for him to retire. During his hiatus, Roczen will seek professional treatment from specialists he has worked with in the past, including some in Europe. His exact return date will depend on how this process unfolds.
“Honda’s continued support is simply unmatched,” Roczen said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for how we work together as partners and make those decisions together, even when they’re really tough. I owe them a championship, and that’s my goal for the future.
“I’m sorry to see Ken in this situation,” said Brandon Wilson, director of sport and experience at American Honda. “He proved at Anaheim 1 that he always has the speed to run with anyone, but the tensions of the sport are such that it’s unrealistic to expect to compete at a disadvantage. Ken said so much heart and wants to be there, but it’s not in the best interest of anyone involved with things the way they are Health comes first, and we know the time off has helped in the past. Ken is part of the Honda family and I am happy that he is taking steps to improve his situation. Everyone here is behind him as he works to get back to the level we all know he deserves to be.
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