Team Honda HRC formally announced its 2018 factory supercross and motocross teams at the Honda supercross test track in the hills above Corona, California, today.
Honda officials presented details on its in-house factory 450cc supercross and motocross effort, which will consist of Ken Roczen and Cole Seely, but the company also chose to include and announce the five-rider GEICO Honda squad that will receive increased HRC support in 2018 as it contends for both Monster Energy AMA 250cc regional titles as well as the 2018 Lucas Oil 250cc Pro Motocross Championship.
Not surprisingly, the biggest news has to be the announcement that 2016 Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Champion Ken Roczen is fit enough to return to action. After joining Team Honda HRC for the 2017 racing season, the 24-year-old Roczen has been on the sidelines since the third round of the 2017 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series in Anaheim, California, where Roczen crashed and suffered a shattered left arm after winning the first two rounds of the year. Some 11 surgeries and 11 months of rehab later, Roczen claims that he is ready to challenge for the main event win when the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series gets underway at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on January 6.
“I feel great, honestly,” Roczen said of his arm. “A few months ago, it was hard to believe… well, not hard for me to believe… that I would be at this point and the way I feel, but I didn’t really give myself another option. I’m really thankful to be stand up here again and be part of the team as a racer and not being sidelined. I’m thankful to be able to race again. That’s what I enjoy the most. There are some good things coming. I’ve been riding a lot, but there really hasn’t been that much footage of me. I didn’t want to keep it a secret, but I just caught myself not posting a lot on social media any videos and whatnot. Today it will be cool to get some footage. It will be nice to have a bunch of people around—a little pre-Anaheim butterflies.” [laughs]
Seely enjoyed two podium finishes in the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series en route to a seventh-place finish in the final series points standings. He did even better in the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, finishing fifth in the 450cc class after posting his first career overall podium finish via 3-6 moto scores at the Unadilla, New York, round of the series.
“I try to approach every year differently, kind of just applying the knowledge that I learned last year to the new season,” Seely said. “I’m trying to get fit, trying to find more speed, and obviously dialing in the new bike. Last year it was a brand new platform, so we didn’t really have anything to base ourselves off of, but we learned a lot last year, and I’m pretty excited to develop the new settings and make the bike even better this year.”
Erik Kehoe returns to manage the Team Honda HRC 450cc team. A former Team Honda rider himself, Kehoe served in the team manger role at Honda from 2002-2012.
“I’m still just a racer at heart, and I’m very proud to be back with Team Honda HRC,” Kehoe said. “It [the transition back into the team] has gone very smoothly. Dan [Betley] did a great job as manager here and laid the ground work. It has been a smooth transition for me, and Dan I still collaborate and share ideas on a daily basis.”
Kehoe said that he is also pleased with the development of the Team Honda HRC CRF450R factory machines, and that the move from the 2017 machine to the 2018 machine has been equally smooth.
“The team has had a full year of testing the bike in race conditions now, and I think in the off-season we have just been fine-tuning the bike settings to get them to work for each rider’s individual style. One thing that I’d like to mention is that during the last few months we gave both Ken and Cole the opportunity to test both KYB and Showa suspension. As you can see from their bikes, Cole has chosen KYB, and Ken has chosen Showa. Both companies have been a huge help in our pre-season preparation.”
Kehoe said that, based on his position that Honda has two of the most talented riders in the sport and one of the best performing models in the Honda CRF450R, he believes that Team Honda HRC is going to be a serious threat in 2018.
“We’re very excited about this season,” Kehoe said.
As part of the Kehoe transition, long-time Team Honda HRC manager Dan Betley has moved over to take the reigns of the GEICO Honda team for 2018.
“The transition has gone really smoothly, even from the beginning of the development of the new bike,” Betley said. “Obviously we are starting from ground zero. We didn’t even have an engine up and running to start supercross testing, so we started on an outdoor setting first and developed that with the individual riders. Like the 450 team, our riders had the option of using either Showa or Kayaba [KYB] suspension components, and obviously some are on Showa and some are on Kayaba. I’d like to thank Showa and Kayaba for their effort and for what they bring to the table for our team. It’s huge. Outdoor development went really well. It was pretty obvious right from the get-go that we were on a much better, more stable platform. In a development setting you are continually going back to what your base is, which would have been our 2017 race bike. From the beginning it was a challenge—none of these guys wanted to get back on the ’17 for evaluation, so that kind of told us right from the beginning that we were on a better platform, and then as the engine development continued to improve, we were able to get on a supercross track. Everything has been showing up pretty late, as far as bikes and parts, but it has been going along pretty smoothly, and I think we’re pretty excited and pretty happy right now.”
Betley’s happy five-man GEICO Honda squad includes a good mix veteran talent and up-and-coming prospects. The 2018 Monster Energy AMA 250 SX West effort will be spearheaded by veteran rider Christian Craig along with rookie Chase Sexton. Craig said that he is looking forward to a much better year as he returns to the West region after his personally disappointing sixth place overall result in the 2017 Monster Energy AMA 250 SX East series where he scored just one podium finish.
“I think everyone is pretty excited about it [the new Honda CRF250R],” Craig said. “Every day we learn something new about the bike. It’s night and day a different bike, and it’s all positive. Honda did a good job with this bike, and we’re all excited to bring it to the races. I’m excited to do the West Coast. Obviously last year I did the East, and things didn’t work out too well. To go back to the West, this is where Iive. Chase is kind of like a little brother to me, so to have him on the same coast as me is going to be fun. He is going to be learning, and I’m more of the vet on this team. I’m excited to go racing.”
Sexton agreed with the Craig’s assessment of the new bike, stating that as soon as he got on it, he went faster.
“Once we got on the supercross track, we were much better, like in the whoops,” Sexton said. “The bike just handles so much better than old one, so we’re excited to go racing this year. Hopefully at A1, we can get on the podium or hopefully win the race.”
The GEICO Honda 250 SX East effort will consist of three riders, including Jeremy Martin, Cameron McAdoo and RJ Hampshire. Martin will actually start his season aboard a 450 at the first three rounds of the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series before climbing aboard his Honda CRF250R for the start of the 250 SX East series.
“The new 250 is unbelievable,” Martin said. “I rode the old 250 a couple times and did three or four laps and was like, ‘Man, I don’t know how crazy that I was able to race that thing.’ The guys from Japan were able to make a new 250 that is that much better, so I’m looking forward to a good year. I’ve got some good teammates, and I’ll be in good company on the east coast, so I’m looking forward to it.”
McAdoo will be in his second season of supercross.
“I’m excited for the season to start,” he said. “I had a little rocky rookie season last year, but the bike is definitely awesome. I’ve been riding it for a few weeks now. The chassis is great, and we’ve come a long way with the suspension. Working with Dan has been great. I’m excited to get the season rolling. My expectations are to be there every round and stay healthy all year and be an up-front guy for sure.”
Hampshire said that he had a good off-season, which included spending time on a 450.
“To get back on a 250 has been difficult, but it’s a whole new chassis,” Hampshire said. “It’s been a process, but I’m liking it. We’ll be ready. We have a good team on the east coast, and we’re excited to go racing.”
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