Roczen, Webb, Barcia, and Nichols Return for Unadilla

Some heavy hitters will return to the 450MX field for Round 9 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship this weekend at the Unadilla National in New Berlin, New York.

German Ken Roczen, the two-time Pro Motocross Champion riding for Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki, returns to racing and AMA Pro Motocross after the devastating crash that broke his tib plateau, foot, and toe while he was running second at the Nashville Supercross earlier this year. He has been back on the bike since June and is ready for some gate drops leading into the SuperMotocross World Championship in September, where he currently sits 12th in the standings. He will be on the RM-Z450 this weekend at the Unadilla National and then will be lining up for the final round of the series at Ironman on an RM-Z250 to battle with the young stars of the sport.

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Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's two-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion, Cooper Webb, returns to AMA Pro Motocross this weekend at Unadilla. Earlier this year, during the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, Webb sustained a torn UCL in his thumb during a heat race crash in Birmingham. Despite the injury, he managed to compete until the final round in Salt Lake City, ultimately securing second place in the 450SX Championship. After recovering for two months, Coop has been on the bike for a bit now and aims to be in peak form for the SuperMotocross World Championship in September. He currently is 10th in combined points.

Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory rider Justin Barcia is also set to return to the AMA Pro Motocross Championship this weekend from the Unadilla entry list. Barcia, who was dealing with knee injuries to both legs, took some time off after the Southwick National, where he finished 7th, to get healthy before the SuperMotocross World Championship in September. Justin currently sits 9th in the combined SMX points and 10th overall in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. (Update 8/6/24 @ 6 pm: GasGas USA posted that Barcia will still be sidelined this weekend due to knee injuries and focused on returning to racing when 100% healthy.)

Colt Nichols, the 2021 250SX East Champion and HEP/Twisted Tea Suzuki’s newest rider returns to racing this weekend and debuts aboard the new team and bike. Nichols, who parted ways with Beta USA at the end of June, will be part of this new team through the SuperMotocross World Championship and has a mutual extension option to race for the team in 2025. Colt has his eyes set on the SMX Playoffs in September and is currently 29th in combined points. Colt will be racing these final three Pro Motocross rounds to get himself in a better position leading into September’s SMX. We Went Fast has him projected in that 23rd-place position at the end of Ironman, which ultimately means he will need to race the LCQ at each of the three SMX Playoff rounds.

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