KEN ROCZEN | GRIT-216 | 450SX

KEN ROCZEN | GRIT-216 | SX 450

The German rider would be determined to generate success for both he and the Suzuki manufacturer while stationed in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon, where prolific practicing efforts had him residing well into the top-ten; via sixth-place on the overall leaderboard prior to moving into heat one. Once here, his start would be on-par with Adam Cianciarulo and Cooper Webb, where he and the KTM rider would compete in a demanding battle over second before the number-two machine would push forward by mere inches. Roczen now would be just behind the two aforementioned riders as they entered into the tremendously steep wall jump, prior to the first set of whoops...and prior to taking the green flag, it was Adam Cianciarulo who could be seen scattered across the ground with an unfortunate crash; moving Roczen to second where he only trailed the North Carolina native. In the laps that followed, it would be Roczen who followed behind the KTM rider in a steady pursuit; running in the runner-up residency for the next five laps, to claim the silver medal before heading to the finalé. His performance in the main event was phenomenal and proved the relevance of the German rider when in discussion of victory in the premier classification. Roczen would claim the lead as the field rounded the first corner, but would be pushed to second by the time he and Chase Sexton crested the tunnel jump. Roczen adopted the pace of the Honda rider and would do his best to follow him through rhythm lanes of tripling, along with the multiple sand sections where the twenty-three's line choices were avoiding the most troublesome terrain. His pace aboard the Suzuki was excellent, and seemed to really embody a pace that could be sustained throughout the duration of the main event. But it was Justin Barcia who had declared he was going to make it difficult on the German native, proceeding to come close to the rear wheel of the ninety-four machine with around eight minutes remaining the clock. Multiple passing attempts would eventually reach a climactic point when six and a half-minutes were set to expire before the white flag was thrown...when Roczen and Barcia would nearly collide as they sprinted amid the straightaway that separated the two whoop sections. Roczen wasn't giving an inch, and decided to forego the outside berm by taking the most inner groove, hooking and proceeding to jump his way through the inside rut. However the GasGas rider couldn't be deterred and would blitz the left side of the whoops with aggression - which ultimately aided his overtaking of the second place position, leaving Roczen in third with only a few laps remaining. And once that occurred, Ken's stamina continued to be steadfast and unwavering; staying within roughly ten-seconds (of Sexton) for the laps that were left to be completed, all the while holding down third, behind Barcia. Claiming the bronze medal as engines ceased, Ken's performance in Atlanta was unquestionably impressive.

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