It's a story worthy of a Hollywood film adaptation: On May 9, 2026, Ken Roczen became the American Supercross champion in the 450cc class. This title is considered the holy grail of dirt bike racing. The roots of Roczen's professional career go back 20 years, when he became champion of the 85cc class as part of the ADAC MX Masters.

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His path was marked by ups and downs, almost insurmountable setbacks and major obstacles. In the meantime, Roczen himself no longer believed that he would ever be able to win the title in the premier class - and still achieved it. Hardly any other motorsport driver embodies such an inspiring story as Ken Roczen.

Ken Roczen was born on April 29, 1994 in the small Thuringian town of Mattstedt. From an early age, he was considered an exceptional talent - and impressively fulfilled the expectations that come with it. In 2011, he became the youngest motocross world champion of all time. 15 years later, he made history again by winning the AMA Supercross Championship: At the age of 32, he not only became the first German champion of the series, but also the oldest title holder in the history of the championship.

At the tender age of three, Ken Roczen started motocross. Trained by his father Heiko, Roczen attracted attention early on and stood out as a great talent. Usually, sponsorships are concluded for one or two years, but in the case of Roczen, the motorsport managers of Red Bull, Fox and Suzuki Germany decided to jointly invest in his development for the long term. Wolfgang Thomas, the head of Fox Germany at the time, remembers: "Dietmar Lacher had already told me about Kenny. Helmut Wahl of Red Bull Germany also had him in mind as a potential talent. Together we then went to Bert Poensgen, the head of Suzuki Germany, to tell him our idea of joint long-term support. Bert was immediately open to it and so we assured each other of our cooperation for the next few years."

This verbally discussed "pact" paved the way for a professional career. In addition, there was the support of the ADAC Sports Foundation. Thanks to Poensgen's network, Roczen received factory support from Suzuki even before he was a teenager and quickly attracted international attention. At the age of twelve, he won the ADAC MX Junior Cup in 2006 and was named ADAC Junior Motorsport Driver of the Year. In the same year, Roczen met later American competitors such as Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia for the first time at the "Mini O's" in Florida.

In 2007, Roczen switched to the big 250cc four-stroke machine and finished third in the championship after his first victories in the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, although he still looked physically very small for the bike. A short detour back to the 85cc Suzuki ended with the win of the Junior World Championship. In 2008, at the age of only 14, he became ADAC MX Youngster Cup champion.

With the minimum age for the World Championship being 15, Roczen had to wait until his birthday before making his Grand Prix debut in Portugal in 2009 as the youngest GP starter in history. Just four races later, Roczen won his first Grand Prix at his home Grand Prix in Teutschenthal, becoming the youngest GP winner ever. This record has not been broken to this day. In the ADAC MX Masters, he competed with his 250cc Suzuki against higher-displacement motorcycles and became champion of the premier class for the first time after Kornel Nemeth was subsequently stripped of the title.

2010 was also marked by success and Roczen finished MX2 runner-up behind Marvin Musquin and at the same time defended his title in the ADAC MX Masters – this time under his own steam.

In 2011, he moved to the Red Bull KTM factory team – a step that marked his final international breakthrough. At the beginning of the year, Roczen competed in races of the AMA Supercross Lites championship for the first time and celebrated his first professional victory on American soil in Las Vegas. In the World Championship, he dominated the MX2 class and provided the crowning glory at the home Grand Prix in Gaildorf: First German male motocross world champion in 43 years - and youngest world champion of all time.

At the age of 17, Roczen moved to the USA, where he competed in the American Red Bull KTM factory team in 2012. He finished his first full Supercross season in the 250cc class as runner-up. At the end of the year, Roczen fulfilled another dream for German motocross fans: Together with Max Nagl and Marcus Schiffer, he won the title with the German national team at the Motocross of Nations in Lommel, Belgium. In addition, Roczen was voted ADAC Motorsport Driver of the Year.

In 2013, Roczen won the West Coast AMA Supercross Lites Championship and moved up to the 450cc class in 2014. In 2015, he returned to Suzuki for the RCH Suzuki Team, with whom he won the AMA Pro Motocross title in 2016 after a dominant season. He won nine out of twelve events, and he finished second in each of the other three.

The Fall That Made History

But the next phase of his career was overshadowed by serious setbacks. After moving to the factory Honda team, Roczen already looked like the sure AMA Supercross champion at the start of the 2017 season. But after a serious fall with several serious arm injuries, the question was suddenly no longer whether he would ever win races again - but whether his arm could be saved at all. What would have meant the end of a career for many became the beginning of one of the sport's most impressive comeback stories for Roczen. Numerous operations and a long rehabilitation period followed. Roczen made an impressive return to racing in 2018. His positive attitude and unwavering will made him an inspirational figure within the motocross scene worldwide.

In the years that followed, Roczen remained competitive despite health setbacks. In 2020, he won an AMA Supercross race in St. Louis for the first time in three years, answering the question of many fans and insiders as to whether he could ever win again. After a difficult 2022 season, he was left without a contract. After numerous tests, he followed his gut feeling and decided to make a fresh start in the private HEP Suzuki team – even though the bike was said to be technically uncompetitive.

Roczen's gut feeling turned out to be correct. In February 2023 in Arlington, "Kickstart Kenny" proved to himself and the world that he can continue to win races in the world's most prestigious Supercross series – including on a Suzuki. After a break of several years, Roczen returned to the German MXoN team and triumphed at the Motocross of Nations in Ernée, France, with victory in the MXGP individual rider classification.

Daniel Johannes of the Johannes-Bikes Suzuki Team, a long-time companion of Roczen, remembers: "I was very touched in Ernée and had revealed to Ken that I had asked his father beforehand if Ken still had what it took and the will to win again. Ken just hugged me and said that he didn't know it himself in the meantime." Roczen and Suzuki proved: "Yes, we Ken!"

In 2024 and 2025, Roczen showed strong performances, but did not finish either season due to injury. Many have now written off the crowd favourite in the title fight. To win the title, you have to finish the season...

But in 2026, fans and competitors experienced a Ken Roczen who seemed to finally have all the pieces of the puzzle together. "Of course we all want to be champions, but I realized that I have other hurdles to overcome first," Roczen explained. "At the season opener in Anaheim, I only concentrated on the first race weekend and not on the entire championship. First I wanted to achieve smaller goals – a podium, a win, then another win – to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it before I focused on the championship."

With just a one-point lead, Roczen went into the final 2026 US SX round in Salt Lake City © Photo: Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool

Even with a 31-point deficit in the middle of the season, Roczen remained calm. "I knew that I had no more room for mistakes and failures if I wanted to have a say in the championship. And that's what I wanted!" He reduced the gap step by step and took the championship lead with victory in Philadelphia at the third-to-last race. With only a one-point lead over Hunter Lawrence, the finale in Salt Lake City turned into a nerve-wracking thriller. Roczen took the lead in the second turn and fulfilled his long-awaited dream: winning the AMA Supercross Championship.

In doing so, he completed one of the greatest comeback stories in Supercross history. Roczen became the first German and only second European champion of the series after Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle in 1991. At the same time, he is the oldest title holder of all time, as well as the first Supercross champion on Suzuki since Ryan Dungey in 2010. An interesting fact: Roczen rode his entire career for Red Bull and in Fox clothing. And with the achievement of his biggest dream on a Suzuki, the circle closes that once began with the "pact" of three men.

In an inspiring speech on the podium, Roczen said: "I also have doubts and thoughts that drain my energy. But that's normal. I work on it every day and have never stopped believing in my dream. So if you have a dream and work hard for it, then you too can achieve your goals."