"A Second Place Would Be Kind Of Perfect," Ken Roczen on 2nd Place at Anaheim 1

The Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki rider, Germany’s Ken Roczen, placed 2nd at Anaheim 1 for the start of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the 2025 SMX series, which is no surprise from his high success at the highly anticipated season-opening round.

Seeing the #94 on the podium or top of the box at the season opener and starting strong at the season's first race is no new accomplishment for Roczen, as he has won this race four times in previous years and an average placing at Anaheim 1 across thirteen races at 3.62. "I’ve won Anaheim 1 quite a bit, so to me, it didn’t really mean anything besides having four of them now. Collecting another one is obviously sweet, but at the same time, I was like, ‘meh.’ Also, the last couple of weeks have been rough because my whole family got sick as a dog, and I haven’t ridden much." Said Roczen after the night’s racing in the crowded post-race press conference.

Roczen’s methodical approach to racing was evident at Anaheim 1. That was proven when reflecting on his mindset before the gate dropped, "Before the main event, I was playing these games in my head, and I was thinking, ‘You know what? A second place would be kind of perfect.’ Not winning, because that never led to a championship for me or anything, but second would be sweet, and we ended up doing that."

Earlier in the day, Roczen entered his heat race with a 14th combined overall position. He explained, "We were tinkering a tiny bit with the bike, but not too much. It was very hard-packed and slippery, and I haven’t ridden California conditions in forever. That last qualifying session was a little rough—I positioned myself poorly and made some mistakes trying to get a fast lap. I wasn’t stoked, but at the same time, I stayed calm because I’ve been in these shoes a lot."

During the main event, Roczen had a chance at winning another Anaheim 1 from Chase Sexton’s mistake of stalling the bike, "That section where Chase stalled was super tough because the rut was extremely tight around the tough block with massive holes in it. I did it almost every lap and was just scared of stalling it there since our bikes have a lot of torque. I was riding my clutch and going for the triple. Honestly, I don’t even know if it was faster—I just thought it felt cool, so I kept doing it."

Be on the lookout for the #94 machine, as Roczen has once again proved that he is a winning threat for another year in 2025.