Ken
Roczen
Germany
·
Motocross
Date of birth | April 29, 1994 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | Mattstedt |
Age | 31 |
Nationality | Germany |
Career start | 2011 |
Disciplines | Supercross / motocross |
Ken Roczen was singled-out as a generational motocross talent well before he hit his teens and he's done nothing but prove that prediction right ever since, bursting out of the tiny German village of Mattstedt to win virtually everything there is to win in both Europe and the United States, breaking records along the way
After dominating on home soil, Ken picked up factory Suzuki support well before he reached high school age, became one of the first European youth riders to compete for wins in the big American amateur races in America and became the FIM 85cc Junior World Champion in 2007, aged just 13.
Following that world title success, Ken needed just one season to get up to speed on 250 machine before he was ready to take on the world's best in the FIM MX2 World Motocross Championship. There was just one problem - his age.
FIM rules state competitors have to be 15 years old to compete in the world championship and at the start of the 2009 Ken was still only 14, so he – and motocross fans worldwide – sat and waited for four Grands Prix before his 15th birthday came around. As the world watched with baited breath, Ken made his MX2 debut in Portugal, setting the record for youngest GP racer ever at that point and finishing seventh overall.
From there, it took Ken only another four races to win his first Grand Prix, scoring a dream debut victory on home soil in Germany and making more history as the youngest-ever Grand Prix winner.
Showing the world his incredible talent, Ken scored three more podiums to finish that debut season fifth overall and then went on to battle future AMA Supercross rival Marvin Musquin and the powerhouse KTM team for the MX2 crown in 2010, eventually finishing second.
After two years of chewing roost from the factory KTMs, Ken left his long-time Suzuki home to join the Red Bull KTM factory team for 2011 and his career went into overdrive with wins on both sides of the Atlantic in the same season.
Racing a punishing schedule of his debut AMA Supercross Championship races and the MX2 world championship, Ken went global. He scored a podium in just his fifth stadium race, before returning to Europe to dominate the FIM MX2 World Championship, winning eight of the 15 GPs on the way to his first senior world title. As if that wasn't enough, he also found time to jet back over to the U.S. and win his first AMA Supercross race at the series finale in Las Vegas.
Leaving Europe to race on the AMA circuit full time was always on the cards for Ken and he made the jump in 2012 with Red Bull KTM Factory Team, where he came under leadership of Roger DeCoster, a legend in the sport and team manager of huge reputation and credentials. Such mentoring obviously paid off, because after an impressive second in the 2012 Supercross Lites East series, in 2013 Ken dominated the Supercross Lites East championship and finished second in the AMA Pro Motocross 250MX series.
In 2014, Ken moved to the 450 class and, of course, won. An impressive third in the supercross series was followed by a sensational motocross championship where he won five of 12 rounds and finished off the podium just once.
After leaving KTM for a return to Suzuki bikes wit the RCH Suzuki team for 2015 and 2016, Ken delivered his most impressive motocross season to date in the summer of 2016, winning nine of 12 rounds and finishing second in the other three races as he swept to the AMA Pro Motocross title in a total whitewash.
Ken joined Honda HRC for on a three-year-deal 2017 and he looked ready to win the AMA Supercross series in 2017 after dominating the opening two races, disaster struck with two extremely series arm breaks in succession that required surgeries in double figures to treat and almost cost him his career.
It was an incredibly painful and mentally draining period for Ken, but his positivity and desire to return to racing was inspiring and the whole motocross world was happy to see him return for the 2018 AMA Pro Motocross Championship and finish third overall.
By now a veteran of the sport despite still being well short of his 30th birthday, Ken battled hard through illness and the after effects of his brutal injuries during 2019, manging fourth and second in supercross and motocross, but he looked like to his old self in 2020 when he won his first AMA Supercross race victory in three years, thanks to a win at St. Louis and then followed that up with two further victories as he claimed third place in the overall standings.
There was plenty more success in 2021, as Ken racked up four victories to finish the AMA Supercross series in second and scoring third in the AMA Pro Motocross campaign.
After a troubled 2022 season, Ken decided a fresh start was needed and left Honda for a third stint aboard Suzuki's, this time with the private HEP Suzuki team.
With less corporate pressure and back on bike he had so much success with in 2016, Ken focused solely on supercross and found his form again to score one win and five further podiums as he finished fourth in the AMA Supercross series and won the newly formed World Supercross Championship.
With wins and podiums already collected early in the 2024 season, Ken's proved once and for all that he's still a title threat and still one of the greatest riders of his, or any, generation.