Roczen, Honda
Parting Ways?
D
uring an interview with James Stewart
during his Bubba's World Podcast,
Ken Roczen revealed that he's ending his
relationship with American Honda, saying,
"Basically I'm a free agent at this point..."
after what appears to be him turning
down a contract extension with the Honda
HRC factory team.
The turn of events
seems to revolve
around the newly
formed and upcom-
ing World Supercross
Championship (WSX)
which is set to take
place in October. Roc-
zen announced earlier
that he was confirmed
for the series, but Honda never confirmed
its intention to support the new series.
Roczen said that he wants to give back to
his fans overseas who haven't seen him
race in person since he came over to the
United States.
"I've never been in that position before.
It was ultimately these races that I com-
mitted to, these offseason races," Roc-
zen said. "Which was a shocker, Honda
decided to pull the offer they gave me …
I have committed to these races, and I didn't feel
comfortable at all to leave these fans hanging. I
decided to stick with it [World Supercross] and
Honda decided to shockingly just pull the offer."
According to Honda, however, it never pulled the
offer. Shortly after the interview, Honda responded
by releasing a statement saying from American
Honda Manager of Sports & Experiential's Brandon
Wilson. "In light of recent comments, we felt the
need to clarify a couple of points. We were looking
forward to continuing with Ken in 2023, and we
recently made him an offer of a contract extension.
That offer has never been rescinded, but it was
declined by Ken and his team. It's true that the offer
included a stipulation that Ken not compete in a se-
ries that has positioned itself as a direct competitor
to our supercross and motocross racing partners.
We feel it's important to support our racing partners
and to treat all of our riders the same. That said,
our esteem and appreciation for Ken are as strong
IN
THE
WIND
P24
A contract
dispute between
American Honda
and Ken Roczen
has apparently
ended their six-
year relationship,
which leaves an
empty seat at the
team for the 2023
Supercross series.
