Honda’s Ken Roczen is quitting the Supercross series with immediate effect after a run of poor results due to ill health, Honda has announced. He won the opening Anaheim race but since then has not been able to match the pace of the front runners.

The official statement says: “Along with his team and family, Team Honda HRC rider Ken Roczen has decided to take a break from the 2022 AMA Supercross series. Roczen won the January 8 Anaheim 1 season opener in convincing fashion, but his results since then have suffered as he struggles with health issues. With the strains of the hectic racing schedule complicating progress, Roczen will withdraw from the series indefinitely, beginning with this weekend’s Detroit round.”

Roczen had Covid after the San Diego round at the end of January, and has struggled since then. He is seeking treatment from doctors in the USA and Europe. In 2017 and 2018 he had Epstein-Barr virus and was ill with an unknown sickness at the end of 2021.

“The continued support of Honda is just second to none,” Roczen said. “I couldn’t be more appreciative of how we work together as partners and make these decisions together, even when they’re really difficult. I owe them a championship, and that’s my focus going forward.”

“I’m sorry to see Ken in this situation,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Sports & Experiential at American Honda. “He proved at Anaheim 1 that he still has the speed to run with anyone, but the strains of this sport are such that expecting to compete at a disadvantage isn’t realistic. Ken has so much heart and wants to be out there, but that’s not in the best interests of anyone involved with things as they are. Health comes first, and we know that time off has helped him in the past. Ken is a part of the Honda family, and I’m happy he is taking steps to improve his situation. Everyone here is behind him as he works to return to the level where we all know he deserves to be.”