News 3 Oct 2023

HEP Suzuki and Roczen to race-on for another season

Looking to further build on convincing first year together into 2024.

Image: Octopi Media.

The HEP Motorsports-operated Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki team and Ken Roczen will race-on for another season together, extending their agreement through 2024.

Roczen made the switch to the Suzuki-equipped organization this season and started with a solid Monster Energy Supercross Championship onboard the RM-Z450.

The number 94 ultimately finished fourth in the 450SX standings, notably winning the Indianapolis main event before making just a single Pro Motocross appearance at High Point and finishing second overall, prior to commencing his World Supercross Championship (WSX) title defence with a victory at Birmingham in July.

His next gate-drop didn’t come until the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) post-season, in which he finished second overall at each of the three post-season events in Charlotte, Chicago and Los Angeles to land P2 in the final 450SMX standings.

While two rounds remain in the 2023 World Supercross Championship, the extension confirms that Roczen will compete with the team in the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship, set to commence with round one of Monster Energy Supercross on 6 January at Anaheim.

“I am extremely excited to re-sign with the team,” said Roczen. “We have done some amazing things so far in 2023 and I am really eager to do even better things in 2024. It has been one of the most fun and rewarding years of my career and I am happy to keep it going.”

HEP Suzuki team manager Larry Brooks added: “Excited to have Roczen back on the team for 2024. We came a long way from the beginning of the year to being one of the top competitors.

“Every time Ken Roczen raced, he was in contention to win. The whole team, including Ken himself, worked extremely hard and it showed in the results. When I took a step back and looked at what we’d done, I was really impressed. I am sure Ken will have continued success in 2024.”

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