KEN ROCZEN - GRIT 260 450SX

GRIT-260 | 450 SX

August 23rd, 2024 5:00 pm

Despite being absent from the racing scene for quite sometime now, Suzuki's Ken Roczen had begun to make his return to the professional circuit in the weeks leading up to the Unadilla National. He'd been superb on this track in recent season's and used his prior knowledge as a confidence booster for Saturday's practice rounds. Once though the qualification process, the return from injury would be applauded by the crowd as the green flag waved in moto-one...and the German rider appeared to establish a position in the running order, that was just outside of the top-five. The Suzuki athlete's prowess immediately showed, and for this occasion in 2024, initially appeared to be within an estimated eighth-place residency while battling with Cooper Webb. He and Webb were nearly identical in speed, but the Yamaha rider had made his way forward and distanced his machine from the Suzuki for a significant amount of time...until the final laps of the moto would near, and Roczen was able to solidify his 450cc engine ahead of Cooper once and for all. Seventh, at that point, was a position that appeared to be palpable - despite Webb, Christian Craig, and Malcolm Stewart not far behind him. In the end, it was Roczen who kept the aforementioned competitors at bay...launching from the finish-line leap as all was finalized to claim seventh in the final standings. He aspired to replicate that performance in moto-two, hovering within the top-five before asserting his machine ahead of Jason Anderson, while proceeding to try and overtake Dylan Ferrandis. That goal would eventually be conquered, where he then went to work on Cooper Webb. The line-choice by Roczen was immaculate and enabled Ken to surpass the North Carolina native not long thereafter! Only five minutes of competition had transpired, and he occupied the second-place position...but Honda's Dylan Ferrandis had to be acknowledged. The battle between the two would come to a climactic point just after the halfway mark, amid the "Screw-U" corner...when Ferrandis powered to the inside and overtook the second-place standing. Roczen was now third and beginning to lessen his pace a bit, which led to Jason Anderson surpassing him just corners thereafter. Hunter Lawrence was next to overtake him (all within a couple of sequences, which deterred Ken to fifth). He proceeded to take a breath, per se, and regroup while hoping to latch onto those competitors. Next to approach him, was KTM's Aaron Plessinger...who also found a way around on the eleventh lap. But from that point onward, Roczen seemed to find a rejuvenated sense of urgency that remained intact to the finish line...earning sixth for the moto, and seventh overall on the day!

More from GRIT