Image: Supplied.

German contender Ken Roczen has labelled Atlanta’s circuit for round nine of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship as one of the toughest this season.

Offering up a soft and rutted surface, the Team Honda HRC rider explained the soil presented high risks in attempting new rhythms throughout the track, resulting in a more cautious outing from the number 94.

Roczen, who still maintains second in the championship classification, crossed the line in P4 at the conclusion of Saturday’s 26-lap main event.

“Going into Atlanta, I was feeling a lot better than I have the past two weeks from the flu,” Roczen commented. “We came into the race with a little different suspension setting, so I was excited to try that but the track was one of the toughest. It was really soft and rutted so it was risky trying something new in those conditions, when you don’t know 100 percent what the bike is going to do.

“In the heat race, I got an okay start but was fully pinched off in the first turn, so that messed me up a bit and I was only able to finish seventh. In the main event, I was on the far outside and grabbed a good start. I had to jump a different rhythm than most the other guys in the first lane and got passed, so I went straight back to sixth.

“I moved into fifth then got stuck behind [Aaron] Plessinger for a while. I spent way too much time trying to get around him, then when I did after he went down, I couldn’t really do anything from there so I just rode a solid race and got fourth. I’m really looking forward to Daytona. It’s obviously the first time I’ve raced there in a long time, so it should be good.”

The main was taken out by red-plate holder Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), joined on the podium by Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) and Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).