GRIT 303 — 450SX — 4th — Ken Roczen

Suzuki's Ken Roczen, remained within this fight for an overall championship. Regardless of whomever he was facing, the European competitor could contend for the highest accolades. He was on-point for practice, and could blend his roots of hard-packed riding with a superb series of carve(s) amongst the deepest loam. Roczen was exceptional, and remained a crowd favorite as he styled his machine through the air! Upon exiting the raceway, many enthusiasts believed that he would be a front-runner in the upcoming heat race. And as he launched from behind the starting gate in the first 450SX heat of the evening, he would sprint to a standing of first following a phenomenal launch from the grate!

He was hard-charging in every aspect of the circuit, and with the hard-packed surface of this Arlington course beginning to be revealed, Roczen's extraordinary throttle control was displayed! As minutes continued to pass throughout the contest, Ken would have to defend his territory from a hard-charging competitor, who was also on a Suzuki machine, by the name of Jason Anderson. Anderson was relentless in the pursuit of his rear wheel, but ultimately, Roczen was able to evade the charge from the New Mexico native. Thus, as the final flag was thrown, Ken took the heat race victory! In the main event, Ken accelerated from the grid to collect a standing of first, after going bar-to-bar with Cooper Webb! Each athlete would exchange positions. He held onto the pinnacle position, despite being rivaled (heavily) by Hunter Lawrence. after approximately one-quarter of the contest had transpired. The first-place position was briefly shuffled, though Roczen was able to maintain the gold-medal standing for a bit longer, after that. The pack of four athletes were all racing around the course in a single-file line, for a significant amount of time. He would maintain the lead until just under six minutes were on the clock, when Hunter surpassed him! This was amid a rutted bowl turn, and Lawrence was able to power past him at that point. However, Ken would do his best to not fade too far - however, Webb and Tomac were approaching quickly. Each of the previously mentioned competitors (i.e. Cooper and Eli) would work their way past almost simultaneously — in a left-handed bend, before the toughest rhythm lane on the racetrack (with just under four minutes on the clock). However, Cooper Webb would be forced off of the circuit, in the next corner...seemingly allowing Ken to take third, once more! Though even with the second-chance at the bronze medal slot per se, it was Webb's combination of endurance and fortitude which surpassed Ken once and for all - on the twenty-second circuit. From there, Ken

remained in fourth... displaying another phenomenal performance from start-to-finish in Arlington!