German teen sensation Ken Roczen has signed for the KTM factory team for the 2011 Grand Prix season.

At the end of the weekend’s racing at the Italian Grand Prix, KTM’s Europe manager, former GP star Pit Beirer, announced at a press conference that Roczen, French world champion Marvin Musquin’s biggest challenger during the 2010 season, had been signed to the KTM factory team.

With Musquin riding KTM in the USA competition next season, Roczen joins Dutch teenager Jeffrey Herlings to contest the MX2 for KTM in Europe.

Roczen, who won 10 of the 30 MX2 GP races this season – including back-to-back wins in Italy on Sunday — and was runner-up on nine occasions through the year, finished runner-up to Musquin in the 2010 MX2 championships.

In comparison to Roczen, 2009 and 2010 world champion Musquin won 14 races and was runner-up on seven occasions.

© Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com