Defending champion Ken Roczen went one-two-one at the opening round of the 2023 FIM World Supercross Championship Saturday night. The opener was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, England in front of a packed house of British fans. Roczen began the night as the top qualifier. Roczen also won his heat race.
In the opening main event, Vince Friese had the early lead. Soon Roczen was at Friese’s rear tire Unfortunately Friese went down and the lost the lead allowing Roczen to capitalize for the win. In the second main event, Friese was back out front. This time Friese was able to keep Roczen at bay and bring home a win. Roczen finished second. In the final main event Friese went down again. Roczen shot to the front for the win and the overall victory of the event.
“The track wasn’t super technical, but it was hard tonight. And my starts weren’t where they needed to be, so I gave myself some work and had to make some passes,” said Ken Roczen. “With the races being so short you had to make a plan on the fly and pass when you could, and it got a bit close. But I was strong in the whoops and tried to stay low over the jumps. I had to push hard tonight, and we’ve got some areas where we want to get better.”
In the SX2 category, the best of three main events would determine the overall victor. Shane McElrath secured double wins aboard a Rick Ware Racing Yamaha earning the overall title.
