Former World MX2 champion and two time AMA 450 motocross champion, Ken Roczen kicked off the racing season right. In his heat race, he started in third place and quickly put his Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki into the lead then ran away with the win. In the main, Roczen narrowly avoided getting collected in some especially brutal first turn chaos; he emerged from the first turn in eighth and immediately started his march toward the front.

Less than five minutes into the race Roczen pushed his way into second place and held the spot for the rest of the race. Having won the Anaheim Opener four times prior (once on a different Suzuki team), Roczen said on the podium that it was one of the only races in which he’d told himself he’d be content with a second place, not a win. He now sits second in the points in the 17-round Supercross season.

His A1 In 2025

“In qualifying I wasn’t where I wanted to be. It was a little bit my fault. I got caught in the middle of a lot of people and a lot of time went by. I ended up 14th [overall in qualifying]. I was mad about it, but I was calm. It’s not where I wanted to be, but I didn’t really care. I know how to race, and I knew I’d be fine. Sure enough, the heat race went great, and I was really happy with the main. I clicked off some good laps and had a good main. I’m stoked; it was a good podium for me.”

On Winning A1 Before

"I’ve won Anaheim 1 quite a bit, so to me, it didn’t really mean anything besides having four of them now. Collecting another one is obviously sweet, but at the same time, I was like, ‘meh.’ Also, the last couple of weeks have been rough because my whole family got sick as a dog, and I haven’t ridden much." Said Roczen after the night’s racing in the crowded post-race press conference. Collecting another one (Anaheim 1 win) is obviously sweet, but at the same time, I was like, ‘meh.”

On A1 Track

“We were tinkering a tiny bit with the bike, but not too much. It was very hard-packed and slippery, and I haven’t ridden California conditions in forever. That last qualifying session was a little rough—I positioned myself poorly and made some mistakes trying to get a fast lap. I wasn’t stoked, but at the same time, I stayed calm because I’ve been in these shoes a lot.”

One His Mind Games

“Before the main event, I was playing these games in my head, and I was thinking, ‘You know what? A second place would be kind of perfect. That section where Chase stalled was super tough because the rut was extremely tight around the tough block with massive holes in it. I did it almost every lap and was just scared of stalling it there since our bikes have a lot of torque. I was riding my clutch and going for the triple. Honestly, I don’t even know if it was faster—I just thought it felt cool, so I kept doing it.”