Ken Roczen To Race Daytona Supercross

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Thu, Mar 7 2013 3:31 pm | Comments

With only two days before Daytona Supercross, we spotted Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen out at Milestone putting in some seat time on his KTM 350SX-F. Two years ago, Roczen made a temporary debut in the 450 class when he lined up on the gate at Daytona on his 350, and finished inside the top-10. Last year, the Red Bull KTM rider nearly took the top honors in Seattle as he and Andrew Short swapped for the lead numerous times, but eventually settled in second. Now, Roczen is excited, once again, to dabble in the 450 class, and will make an appearance at Daytona this weekend.

Ken Roczen is excited for Daytona this weekend, can you tell?

This weekend you’ll be racing the KTM 350SX-F at Daytona. Are you pumped?

I’m super excited! I love that track, and by looking at the track map for this year, it looks really fun. I actually haven’t ridden my 250 since San Diego, but we went out to Competitive Edge two days ago to get my outdoor suspension dialed in. Other than that, I’ve been having a blast on this 350, and I came out to Milestone today to get used to it again! I fly out tomorrow morning, but I don’t get to Daytona until eight at night. It’s a little late, but I’ll be fine. I’ll probably just end up eating something by the hotel, and go to bed [laughs]. I hope it doesn’t rain like last year, but I honestly don’t care. I kind of like the rain. I’m up for anything.

Two years ago you nearly made the podium at Daytona on a 350…

Yeah! I think I grabbed the holeshot in the heat race and finished second. And then last year, I finished second in the main event at Seattle! So, I’m pretty stoked about that!

Does the 350 have an advantage at Dayton because the track gets so beat up?

It’s hard to say. I think that thing has enough jam to do damage not just at Daytona, but also at any Supercross race. It’s going to be long a long race, the track gets rough, but Daytona will be a great track for the 350.

Two years ago, Roczen finished eighth on his Red Bull KTM 350SX-F. How do you think he’ll finish this year?

What is the goal this weekend?

The goal is to just hammer down 20 laps, and hopefully get somewhere near the podium. That would be great, but it’s hard to tell because the competition is pretty gnarly in the 450 class. Even if I get a bad start, I just want to try and see how far towards the front I can get.