In a rollercoaster night for Team Honda HRC, Cole Seely rode to a strong third-place finish at round three of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, but the team suffered a devastating loss after Ken Roczen crashed and suffered serious injuries to his left arm at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, on January 21.
The team issued a recap of the night’s events today. Here is what it had to say about Roczen:
“After a less-than-desirable start in the main event, Roczen had quickly navigated through the pack and was sitting third behind Seely on lap nine, when he lost control through a rhythm section, separated from his bike in the air and went down hard, leaving him with a compound fracture of his left radius and a dislocated elbow and wrist. Roczen was transported to a local hospital for evaluation before flying to Colorado on Sunday morning to have his personal physician perform surgery. Additional information will be released when it becomes available.”
Roczen’s injury comes as a huge blow to a team that had reason to be optimistic after the German rider scored the first two wins of the season aboard his factory Honda CRF450R. Prior to Anaheim II, he had won six of the last seven rounds, dating back to the 2016 supercross season. It remains to be seen whether Roczen will return for any rounds of the 2017 supercross series or just bide his time in anticipation of defending his 2016 Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross title.
Team Honda HRC Team Manager Dan Betley had the following to say about the night”
“Tonight was pretty bittersweet. I’m incredibly proud of Cole for how he rode tonight. Like I said last week, he’s better than how he raced at the opening two rounds, so to see him get good starts, show his speed and get a podium this weekend is awesome. I’m expecting a lot more podiums and even race wins from him because he’s more than capable. On the flip side, we’re all devastated for Ken. That is one thing that makes our sport so tough—everything can change in an instant. It was such a brutal crash, so we’re grateful the injuries weren’t much worse. The Honda family wishes him the best and we can’t wait to see him back out there. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and we’re not going to let this stop us.”
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