Washougal was a weekend to forget for Pro Motocross title threat Ken Roczen, the Team Honda HRC rider struggling through sickness for round seven of the season.

Roczen had been under the weather in Millville and that limited his seat time during the week, which led to a difficult race on Saturday.

After qualifying third and then recording 6-10 finishes for ninth overall, Roczen said it was a difficult day in the office and will use the next two weekends off to recover prior to finishing strongly in the closing round.

“Our weekend in Washougal was super-hard, I’ve been sick all week,” Roczen stated. “I only rode one day a little bit to keep a good feeling, but I didn’t feel good coming into this weekend. I still felt super-weak still in my bones and muscles, I just didn’t have it.

“I fought my way through as well as I could, but it was just a weekend to forget. I’m looking forward to a couple off weekends now, to get myself back on track. I’m looking forward to trying to recover and then rebuild and get back to when I felt good and fight back.”

Roczen remains second in the 450MX title chase with five rounds to go, 47 points behind series leader Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) ahead of Unadilla on 14 August.