Supercross: Roczen Imperious in Indy

Motorcycle racing is nothing if not unpredictable. Of course, trends can be tracked and patterns followed, but exceptions to the rules are the name of the game.

Ken Roczen missed the AMA Pro Motocross season in 2020 after having suffered in the Salt Lake City races that ended the preceding Supercross season due to fitness. It was unclear whether Roczen could, in 2021, repeat the kind of championship challenge he held up for the majority of the 2020 450SX championship. Adding to that was the arrival of Honda’s latest update to the CRF450R, which threatened to present more problems than answers in its first year as new bikes so often do. 

However, having been on the podium in two of the three Houston rounds which opened the 2021 Supercross season, Roczen has now swept the Indianapolis triple header that took place last week. The #94 was imperious in Lucas Oil Stadium, riding with an aggression that had apparently been missing in Houston. This was displayed in his sharp response to a mistake which cost him the lead to Eli Tomac in Indy 1, the first lap pass on Justin Barcia – who he was so cautious around in Houston 1 – at Indy 2, and his speed after being almost T-boned by Barcia early on in the Indy 3 Main Event last Saturday. Roczen now holds 16-point lead atop the 450SX championship – which could have been a full 26 without the penalty for jumping on red cross flags in Houston 2, and the Dean Wilson-assisted six-point swing with Cooper Webb in Houston 3.

And it is Webb who is now closest to Roczen in the points after the first six rounds. But the 2019 champion knows time is running out for him to start pegging Roczen back. Even with 11 rounds still to go, things are getting away from Roczen’s closest championship rival, and the psychological battle won by the #94 on Saturday – where he held off the as-ever late-charging Webb for the win – could prove pivotal in this year’s title fight.

Webb was not the only rider with aspirations of closing in on Roczen going into Indianapolis. In particular, Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia were also hopeful of maintaining championship charges through Indianapolis and into the remainder of the season. However, interruption from Vince Friese late on in Indy 3’s Main Event has left Tomac and his #1 plate 24 points down on Roczen, while Barcia is now 42 back and truly out of it for himself. 

If the top two in the championship were reversed, if Webb led Roczen by 16 and Tomac by 24 rather than the current reality, arguably the championship would be already written off. But, with Roczen’s history of struggling to maintain championship challenges down the stretch, whether through injury or more submerged health issues like Epstein-Barr virus, the questions and doubts remain over whether the current situation – where the Roczen-Honda partnership looks like by far the most complete package on the 450SX gate – will be reflected in five, eight, or 11 rounds. 

For now, though, it is true. Roczen is riding his Honda better than Cooper Webb is riding his KTM, Eli Tomac is riding his Kawasaki, or Justin Barcia is riding his GASGAS- to the extent that, as he proved on Saturday, he can win even when he is not the best rider out there.