KEN ROCZEN - GRIT 232 450SMX

KEN ROCZEN | GRIT-232 | 450 SMX

Though absent from the majority of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Suzuki's Ken Roczen aspired to make his presence known as the SMX playoff's came to fruition for this September 8th and 9th weekend. Ken had been quoted as saying he was training at intensity that was nearly equivalent to those atop the outdoor points standing, and by all means would prove that notion as practice came to fruition. His pace seemed to elevate even higher as the opening arose as well, with his seventh-place standing on lap one quickly being omitted for a fifth-place score on the third circuit. This was sustained until an opportunity to pass Justin Barcia was next, and that task was completed with exclamation on the eighth-lap of action. Now with Dylan Ferrandis just a bit out of reach (at the time), Roczen would use the Yamaha rider as a means to strive for when nearing the checkered flag. Leaping through the rhythm section and charging through the tighter portions of racetrack with abundant RPM, the desire to move forward was evident on behalf of the German rider...but Ferrandis' speed was impressive when the checkered flag was eventually thrown. Which led Ken to be solidified in third, where he exited the raceway and aspired to duplicate that process in the following moto as well. For the second round of racing, he was explosive in his movements as he tried to infiltrate the leading designation and overtake Ty Masterpool who quickly made his way to the front of the pack. By the time they had reached the midpoint of the rhythm lane (on their first trek through), it was Roczen who narrowly avoided disaster while sticking to his application of throttle twisting...tripling to the right side of the Kawasaki rider as he secured the lead before the corner thereafter! Now into the first-place designation, his reign over the field would be kept through lap ten, until Chase Sexton would make his presence known at the rear wheel of the German rider. The time in which it took for Sexton to go from closing-in, to overtaking the Suzuki athlete would be extremely quick and rather impressive - where a move to the inside (on behalf of Sexton) was exclaimed just after the fourteenth minute of the moto had began, amid the off-cambered corner ahead of the finish line. With little time now remaining, Roczen's only choice was to continue fighting and defending...with Jett Lawrence now coming into the equation as well. And the Australian (as well) would make the move with roughly two minutes remaining on the race clock, where Jett swiftly shot to the inside over the hip double and forced Ken to oblige to his pace. Now third, the Suzuki athlete was forced to reside here as the checkered flag was thrown shortly thereafter...generating a remarkable second-place overall, for his return to competitive action in Charlotte.

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