ROCZEN RALLY AND CUNNINGHAM TOP 10 HEADLINE SUZUKI’S SAN DIEGO I SUPERCROSS
January 18, 2016
The 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM Championship, rolled into San Diego’s Petco Park Saturday night and Team Suzuki was well represented with riders turning in solid performances on both the Suzuki RM-Z450 and Suzuki RM-Z250 motocross machines.
Suzuki highlights for this weekend’s racing at San Diego I included:
- RCH Suzuki’s Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen making another strong rally on his RM-Z450 after a tumble to score a strong sixth-place finish in the Main Event.
- Motorcycle Superstore Suzuki’s Kyle Cunningham putting the Suzuki RM-Z250 into the top 10 in the San Diego 250 West Supercross final.
- A total of 10 Suzuki riders - seven on Suzuki RM-Z450s and three aboard Suzuki RM-Z250s – qualifying for the evening program at San Diego I.
Roczen Rallies to Finish Strong in San Diego
Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki’s Ken Roczen came back strong in the San Diego I Supercross main event, using the power and handling of his RCH Suzuki RM-Z450 to charge back after a fall to sixth-place. Roczen was in the mix among the leaders early on, coming from a sixth-place start to grab third. However, Roczen ran off the track and tipped over on the ensuing lap and dropped back to tenth. Roczen showed his resolve by brushing himself off and getting back in the race.
He wasn’t happy about his mistake, but ultimately left the first of two races in San Diego this season upbeat.
“I was running in third,” Roczen said. “I felt great, I felt fast and was running super strong and I made a mistake and ran off the track and went down. Once again I had to come from the back and unfortunately was only able to finish sixth. I think it’s just putting a couple of things together on the track. We’ve got the speed, we’ve got the fitness, everything is there. I’m bummed I didn’t finish up front, but I’d rather start off slow and pick it up from there on out. It was just a tiny little mistake that cost me. I felt like I was in a position to make something happen. I’m going to keep focusing. We’re doing everything we can and we’re doing everything right and we’ll see where that will take us next weekend.”
He comes into Anaheim II next week sixth in the points, but only 10 points out of second, illustrating how close the competition is so far this season.
Tickle and Schmidt Score in San Diego
Suzuki RM-Z450 mounted Broc Tickle and Nicholas Schmidt both scored points in the premier Supercross event in San Diego. Tickle came home 14th on his RCH Suzuki, while Schmidt qualified for his first main of the season and took 20th on his Team 3BR/DSC Construction Suzuki.
Cunningham Takes 250 West Top 10 Aboard Suzuki RM-Z250
Kyle Cunningham broke through to earn his first top-10 finish of the season aboard his Motorcycle Superstore/Suzuki RM-Z250. Cunningham started the race in 13th, but used the agile handling of his RM-Z250 to work his way up through the field to ninth by the end of the 15-lap San Diego I 250 West main event.
“I had a great heat race,” Cunningham said. “My aggression was good coming up from not a great start. I took that into the main. I went into the corner good (turn one) and kind of got pinched off and found myself back there in the pack. I put a good charge on and rode a solid race. Overall I’m really happy with the bike and I’m looking forward to next week.”
One of the most notable Team Suzuki stars, Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart, elected to sit out in San Diego. Stewart practiced, but decided he wasn’t yet 100 percent ready to compete after a hard fall at the series opener the week before. His status for Anaheim II is day to day.
Other Suzuki riders to qualify for the evening program at San Diego I included Jeff Alessi (MotoConcepts Racing), Teddy Parks (TPJ/Fly Racing/Suzuki) and Alexander Nagy (MicroBilt/PBRC Suzuki) aboard Suzuki RM-Z450s, along with Killian Auberson (TPJ/Fly Racing/Suzuki) and Daniel Baker (Dirt Candy Graphics/Yoshimura Suzuki) on Suzuki RM-Z250s.
Team Suzuki will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 23, at round three of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Fans can meet and get autographs from many of Suzuki’s athletes on Friday Jan. 22 from 6-7:00 pm at Malcolm Smith Motorsports, 7599 Indiana, Ave., Riverside, CA 92504.
Anaheim II will be shown live on Fox Sports 1 starting at 7 pm local time.
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