he came back and asked us
what he needs to do to get bet-
ter."
Roczen, another veteran, fin-
ished second. He again proved
that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it,"
as he rode his unchanged-from-
last-year RM-Z450 to second
place. After starting the night
with a win in his heat race,
Roczen later duked it out with
would say our motorcycle was
the best when it mattered. My
bike was in great tune, and I had
a smooth flow around the track.
We can still do it. We got A1.
What a cool night."
"I feel relieved," said Motor
-
sports Director for KTM North
America Roger DeCoster, who
was involved with signing the
veteran racer who not long ago
said he was going to retire from
the sport. "I'm very happy for my
crew. It's been a tough couple of
years, really tough, and they kept
their heads down and kept work
-
ing hard, and today proved that
we were not in the wrong."
"He [Tomac] is really happy
[with the win]," DeCoster added.
"It's amazing; he's such a pro
that after a couple of minutes,
After a lengthy delay, there
was a full restart, and Prado
took advantage, nailing the
holeshot. But his lead was
short-lived, as both Tomac and
Roczen, on the Progressive
Suzuki, came calling, and by the
fourth lap, Prado was holding
down third.
The former Supercross Cham
-
pion, Tomac, kept longtime rival
Roczen at bay for the full main
event on his Jade Dungey-tuned
KTM; the two were never sepa
-
rated by more than two seconds
during the final half of the moto.
Ultimately, it was all Tomac, as
he started the 2026 season with
a big victory.
"What a start for us," Tomac
said. "We got out of the gate
well, and then it was just on. I
VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P53
and main event. "It was a challenge
all day," he said. "I started out alright
and was building throughout the day,
but then in the first heat, unfortunate-
ly, got tagged and went down. I was
in a decent spot after the race, and by
the third or fourth lap in, I had a big
one in the whoops, so that made for a
tough night in the end."
MYOWNRACE
Ken Roczen, rode
well, keeping Tomac
in close sight the
whole way.
