Image: Octopi Media.

Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki’s Ken Roczen sustained a hyper-extended knee in the 450SX main event at Salt Lake City, which cost him any chance of a top-three result in the final standings.

After winning heat one of the night, Roczen exited the final immediately after injuring his knee, however, later tried to rejoin in a bid to score points and move past Cooper Webb in points.

Regulations wouldn’t allow for the 29-year-old to get back on track and circulate, which meant he was ultimately credited fourth in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship aboard the RM-Z450, albeit tied with Webb. His lone win came in Indianapolis, making for six podiums in total.

“You couldn’t see much going back across the straightaway, so I took the really high line, but I almost crashed, put my foot out and absolutely hyper-extended my knee,” he recalled. “It was sharp pain right away, so that’s why I took that lap easy and went off. I’ve never really hurt my knee, so I don’t know what a messed up knee feels like, but it didn’t feel good right there. I’m going to have to see what the deal is.”

Roczen has signed to contest the upcoming World Supercross Championship (WSX) in an agreement with SX Global that will see him form part of the Pipes Motorsports Group (PMG) across the six-round series. It appears at this point he should be fit for the opening round in Birmingham come July.