Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/270748
INTERVIEW RED BULL KTM'S KEN ROCZEN P72 not. On a 250, a triple out of the turn or something like that, that's the hard part. But for sure the whoops are tough, especially on the west coast. I feel like they're always big and steep and pretty difficult. The thing about the whoops is that you cannot mess up in the whoops. As soon as you miss one with your front wheel, you basically die [laughs]. So, the whoops are definitely the one section that people struggle the most with. But I try to use that as my advantage." >>CHAD REED Being a fan of Supercross for as long as he's been, Roczen's fa- vorite racers were the same as anyone else: Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael and Chad Reed. That means, as of this year, Roczen is racing against one of his childhood idols - Reed. "It is [kind of weird]," Roczen says. "Especially in the beginning when I came over. Beeker [Roc- zen's agent, Chris Onstott, who at the time worked for Fox Rac- ing] took me over to say hi to him, and it was weird, I'm telling you." Roczen and Reed have been mentioned together quite a bit this year, though. First, on the positive side, there were Reed's comments following Roczen's win at Anaheim 1 this year, in his official rookie 450 race – a feat that Chad Reed also pulled off 11 years earlier: "I know what it's like to come in here and win as a rookie," Reed said at the time. "It's badass. You know, [Roczen's] worked hard this off-season. He's very talented, he's not from here, he's dreamed a lot about this moment, and it's special. It was probably one of his easier wins because he kind of just rode around. And I don't want to say it all fell in his lap, but definitely things went right for him and he got to ride his race. And he rode smart. He's a smart kid. I mean, you don't win a World Champion- ship at 16 years old [if you're not smart]. And I think that's what the Euro guys do. They learn early because they're off the tit at a young age, and the US riders are not. They've got their moms and dads. And I mean he has his mom and dad around a little bit, but I think he's much more of a strong individual than what some of the American guys are when they're young. "I love the kid. I'd love to have him on my team, so we'll see what we can do. Him winning races like that might price me out of it, but I really like him, he's a great kid and I have a lot of respect for " PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THAT I'M MORE A GUY THAT RIDES WITH A LOT OF TECH- NIQUE. " PHOTOGRAPHY KTM IMAGES/SIMON CUDBY