Roczen contract dispute over WSX
Early in July Ken Roczen publicly announced his intention to compete in the new Australian managed official FIM World Supercross Championship.
We mentioned in that article that it would be interesting to see how much pushback the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship would bring to bear against this move, as the heat from some major friction was really starting to build between the two series.
This week some of that friction turned to fire, and people are starting to get burned.
American Honda, as is their right, compels their riders signing new contracts to adhere to a stipulation that they do not compete in a series that rivals the long and ongoing partners of American Honda, those being MX Sports Pro Racing and Feld Motor Sports, Inc.
Ken Roczen is refusing to adhere to those restrictions, and thus has now declared himself a free agent.
Roczen told Bubba’s World Podcast about his contract dispute this week, and mentioned that in response to his stated intention to race the new WSX series, American Honda ‘pulled the offer’.
American Honda overnight issued this statement about the contract negotiations.
Brandon Wilson – American Honda Manager of Sports & Experiential
“We genuinely enjoy working with Ken and have loved having him on our team for the past six years. We have a ton of respect for the speed and talent he regularly demonstrates on the track, and even more so for the heart and dedication he has shown in returning from severe setbacks. In light of recent comments, we felt the need to clarify a couple of points.
“We were looking forward to continuing with Ken in 2023, and we recently made him an offer of a contract extension. That offer has never been rescinded, but it was declined by Ken and his team.
“It’s true that the offer included a stipulation that Ken not compete in a series that has positioned itself as a direct competitor to our supercross and motocross racing partners.
“We feel it’s important to support our racing partners and to treat all of our riders the same.
“That said, our esteem and appreciation for Ken are as strong as ever, and they won’t be altered by the fact that our priorities don’t happen to align on this issue.”
