Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be supercross racers. Honda’s Ken Roczen won the first two rounds of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross series, and was the favorite coming into Round 3 at Anaheim last weekend. Unfortunately, supercross is a dangerous game where even the best riders risk serious injury every time they go on the track.
Running in third position behind Honda teammate Cole Seely, things went wrong for Roczen on the rutted face of a triple jump. The result was a very scary looking crash (see the video below) and injuries described by Roczen with the following instagram post:
We wish the young Mr. Roczen our best on his recovery. His talent will be sorely missed by supercross and motocross fans until he is back competing.
See more of MD’s great photography:
I wish Roczen a swift and full recovery, although his arm will never be the same.
Saw a video of him working out on an exercise bike already.. the guy is a superman. Best wishes for him
(unfortunately for 21 yr old supermen, they can’t conceive during their super days that they will get old. And all these old bumps and dings come back for round two in 20 yrs, chronic next time vs acute.)
Racing motorcycles is a very dangerous sport, that is what makes it so unique and exciting.
Would not have it any other way and the people who race would be the first ones to tell it like it is!
Get well champ! Can not wait to see you back on your RACE BIKE.
I hope he is right-handed… The crazy part is the radius looks fine, but it’s unattached at both ends…
The radius is definitely fractured at the distal end/wrist. Compare it to a normal wrist radiograph – that big chunk of bone below the carpals in the image is supposed to be attached to the shaft of the radius. Looks like it’s displaced by 1/2 inch or so – ouch! I hope he heals well and has a (relatively) speedy recovery.
Yeah…. that’s the problem
Love that handle, thart was my first bike. I too hope Ken can make it back, and yes he will suffer when he is old. But us there anyone reading this who raced and would take it back?
They need to make the triples into table tops, and make the rhythm sections back into whoops. It will make the racing better and safer. There is no reason to have a jump face to land into. It makes about as much sense as having concrete barriers in the middle of a NASCAR track. Get well soon Ken. I am a Dungy fan but I hated to see you get hurt.
I thought the same when I entered a Las Vegas Endurocross event just to say I did…I could do everything except the 20ft double made of sideways logs. Super sketchy and I thought it was kind of stupid and not something you would encounter in the outdoors but the fans want to see stuff like that.
I personally enjoy old school vintage tracks with rollers and flat tables that showcase racing line, throttle control, and braking skill vs balls out flying through the air. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orbEPcmqQxI
that was very very nasty! burned on my brain past few days :/ get well Kroc! wish Villopoto was around now even more, managing a coffee shop now?! wtf!
If you take the danger out of motorsports I probably won’t watch anymore.
I’d sure like to see the liability releases involved in this kind of competition.
Enter any race, and you’ll get to read one and sign it.
This is the number #1 reason why most of us are “armchair” athletes and not in the circuit competing for a trophy, $$$ and the glory that goes with it. I really hate to see when anyone is injured or killed in competition, but it’s what happens in all forms of motorsports and will continue to happen. May Ken heal quickly and pursue his dream while counting the cost.
Really??!! So you and I would be competing for top spots if not for fear of getting hurt?
Talent and drive are not the #1 reason most of us are competing for a trophy?
Talent and drive are not the #1 reason most of us are NOT competing for a trophy?
Athletic ability, starting young, physical conditioning, ability to sustain pain and suffering, mental toughness, might have a bit to do with it too 🙂
And money. Don’t forget money. My folks couldn’t afford to buy me dirtbikes when there was 7 mouths to feed. Only the rich kids had such luxuries.
Only rich kids had such luxuries…
Not true. Many, many racers’ families have barely any money. This is worldwide!
A person I raced against had to beg for money to buy fuel, and beg for transport from fellow racers to get to the Nationals. They really struggled. He went to England and raced the British Championship.
Tim Ferry grew up struggling; until he made it big.
Dean Wilson’s father was a truck driver not earning megabucks. His mom had to take him to races while his dad worked. They struggled.
Weston Peick did not race all the Nationals as he did not have money to make it to the next race (a few years ago)
A lot of parents will sacrifice everything to support their kids if they are really talented at something… Even if it means not putting food on the table.
Man what a brutal crash. Get better and take the time to do it Ken.
Racing organizations like formula one and nascar continue to make the sport safer. What could be done here to prevent injury. Icon and a few other companies are making air bags part of the safety equipment used in riding. Could it have help here if there was more of an effort to get equipment like that part of the he sport and get more development dollars into perfecting it. Who’s comfortable wearing a helmet? It might make the sport safer for everyone.
An airbag wouldn’t have saved his arm. Those airbags rely on sensors to determine when the rider is crashing. I suspect that the nature of riding motocross would have those sensors believing that the rider is always crashing. One could use a tethered system I suppose, but it would have to be a pretty long tether. Maybe too long?
I don’t know how these guys can ride these missiles. Yikes. Just so much power and so much speed that when the track goes away (and it goes away because of the amount of power they can put to the ground), it becomes almost impossible to control. That plus the feeling of invincibility adds up to a dangerous situation.
I’d be happy to see the premier class go back to either 250 cc two-strokes, or 300cc four-strokes. (Even the 350 KTM SX is probably too much for the premier class.) Support class could be 125 cc two-strokes (again) or 200 cc four-strokes. The racing would be almost as good (maybe the 300 cc won’t have enough power to triple everything), but the speeds would be lower, and the safety factor higher.
I think they should seriously consider single file starting, based on heat race finishing times. The only reason these guys aren’t running stock (or slower) engines is because of the start.
This could also give two strokes much better odds. You can run similar lap times on a smoker, but a thumper just destroys them off the line..Especially concrete start pads.
The whole ‘fit 20 guys in the first corner’ thing causes a ton of headaches in Supercross.
70 hp on an indoor track is nuts, but nobody is listening. The fim is full of senile old men and ama only cares about hd. Yep 4 stroke nose dive.
This crash had nothing to do with horsepower. Fact is, there are very few places onthe average SX track where a rider sees much more than 30mph. He just made a mistake. Almost veryone else did that comvination 18-20 times without incident. Riders got hurt just as often and just as badly when the engines were smaller and the tracks were easier.
Whatever redneck loser sport.
..so why are you watching and commenting?
Roczen is crippled for life but he is financially set. He never has to work again. What of the amateurs who a as badly injured or worse? They have nothing At what point does the ama fim start making changes.
Ken,
Get well soon. Hard work ahead. You can do it. You’re an amazing talent.
who will ride in his place for honda….?
Ken, You need to retire for at least 2 or 3 years so you can heal and carefully think things through in regards to your health, future finances and wife/kids if you want them. Maybe you can Build a race team, or buy a business. You can always race again. But your arthritis is going to be gnarly. I compounded my left forearm and broke it in 4 places racing motocross when I was 16 years old. Now I have 12 screws and two plates. What sucks the most is the arthritis sets in during winter and summer. You will also experience arm pump in your left arm like you have never felt as a result of this injury. Once your left arm starts to get arm pump, it will tighten up on you. Make sure you do a lot of stretching with every part of your wrist, arm, elbow and shoulder. AS you get older your body naturally tightens up. Take care and best of luck!
There was no way to stay on the bike, pull up on the handlebars, and ride it out?
I thought about that too after watching him blast around and do all kinds of in air crossed up sideways maneuvers on The CR250 video posted earlier. Guess after his feet left the pegs and his butt left the seat, he was limited to his amount of control.
Nah, no way. He got a hard buck from both the front and rear suspension. Those acrobatic tricks work when you can make the bike do what you want, not so much when the bike is controlling you.
Dungey said there were a lot of “kickers” looks like Roczen found one, slammed his head also, blew the visor right off the helmet. Looks like someone else is going to have to step it up a notch or the diesel is going to rack up another #1, but hey anything can happen (apparently).
Oh man, that’s ugly.
May he heal well and race again.
Ouch!
Ken planted his right leg when he landed and I thought for sure he was going to fracture that leg. I’m glad it was “just his arm.”