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KEN ROCZEN
450 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> When stepping onto the line, behind the gate in which an individual competitor chooses, one must be con dent in a number of things. Their ability to conquer any obstacle on the track, their resilience against the competition, and faith in the machine underneath them. Any bit of uncertainty in any of these three areas, can lead to disaster and suboptimal results,
so a functional train of commitment and courage is a must. It’s something that ows through the mind, body, and spirit of Ken Roczen, and is apparent when viewing him aboard the motorcycle. He never blemished in any instant throughout practice, with his laptimes hover- ing near the summit of the leaderboard. He would have nothing but good things to say about the machine, and looked to head to the line in a surging state of positivity. It would relish into an awesome start to the rst moto, being just where he needed to be in order to strike with destruction. Soaring down these hills, you could see the amount of pressure placed aboard the front brake mechanism, as the nose-end would dive forward. He wanted to do be at the pinnacle of this race so badly, and he knew his biggest foe was just behind. With the sixth place of lap one slowly being washed away, he worked his way past riders like Grant and Jus- tin Hill, stalking the ever so gravitating lure of the top two. He would move into third, reading the back of Musquin’s jersey with precise vision. Coming across the stripe, his nish of third would be good enough for overall contention. The second race saw Roczen and Musquin
out front early, with Tomac wading through the waters, but on a frantic pace to catch up. Ken would lead, establishing a solid pace of 2:17’s, yet Tomac and he would go back and forth to contest the pole position. The top three would then dip a second lower, although he and the KTM would have a comfortable cushion over Tomac in third. Eli would drop the hammer how- ever, really beginning to surge as they neared lap ten. The race would be neck and neck, with Roczen hardly being able to hold off the pressure from number one. He couldn’t hold on, with Tomac slipping by with only two laps to go! However, once all was said and done, he would go onto place second overall, with a second place nish; with taste of champagne satisfactory to the work he’d put in.
38 GRITMOTO • JULY 29, 2018