RCH RACING OAKLAND RACE RECAP
January 26, 2014
Oakland, CA (January 26, 2014) – The RCH Racing Soaring Eagle team was ready for the Oakland Supercross… more than ready. His Anaheim 2 heat race win and top 10 finish in the main had #75 Josh Hill raring to go. After getting taken out in a crash last week, #20 Broc Tickle was coming off a night in Anaheim that he would rather forget… actually given how hard he hit the ground, it is a wonder he could remember anything from the race.
Qualifying in Oakland's infamous "black hole" (as Raider Nation refers to the stadium) went well as Hill was 10th and 11th in the two sessions and within tenths of a second of top qualifier Ryan Villopoto. Tickle was able to bounce back, literally, from last week's crash finishing 13th in session #1 and just behind his teammate in 12th in the second session. But bad luck in both heat races bit the RCH Soaring Eagle teamsters. In the first heat race Justin Barcia sent Broc on the long walk back to the pits by going "Bam Bam" on him.
In the second heat race, a top 10 start in heat race was wasted when Hill hit the ground hard. He tried to switch up his lanes at the last minute and it didn't go well for him, as Jenny Taft told the Fox Sports TV viewing audience. When he could shake the cobwebs off, Josh realized he had broken his collarbone. As Josh's Dad Monte Hill said, "The highs are extremely high and lows are very low."
Frustration was Josh's immediate reaction. "I felt great all day, and had the speed I needed. I just made a mistake in the heat coming through the pack," says Josh. "I'm not in too much pain. More than anything, I'm just frustrated that I'm going to have to miss a couple races."
Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse, Tickle couldn't make the starting line for the semi and was listed as a "DNS" (Did Not Start) like his teammate Hill. The lingering effects of the hard crash in Anaheim were aggravated by the incident with Barcia, but it was a jammed wrist that had the doctors concerned and Tickle was scratched.
"I got off to a decent start in my heat and felt the best I have all night," explains Broc. "Barcia knocked Weimer down in a berm in front of me and I got on the gas to try and miss his bike, but clipped it and crashed. I sprained my left wrist and my pointer finger. It swelled up really quickly, so we made a decision as a team to pull out on racing tonight."
Broc was bummed by the bad luck, but will do what it takes to be ready for Anaheim 3. "The last two weeks have been tough. Last week's crash set me back this week. I did therapy every day and rode a little Thursday," he says. "I was sore, but I knew I could come to Oakland and get through it. Practice was tough today and it showed... My ribs are really sore but with each practice session I started feeling better and I knew adrenaline would help me push through it in the races. I'm really bummed and I want to be out there battling. I want to be at 100% and be where I was before my crash last week physically. Going to get therapy this week and do anything I can to get back to 100%."
Looking to overcome the bad breaks in Oakland, the RCH Racing Soaring Eagle team returns to Southern California for Round 5 on "Superbowl Saturday" February 1. From the Suzuki Hole Shot Experience to the team autograph signing at 3pm, the RCH Racing Soaring Eagle pit is the place to be at Anaheim 3. Fans can even win a 3 night/4 day all-expenses paid getaway to Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort on the spot! If you are in the Southern California area, don't miss the team riders signing autographs at Malcolm Smith Motorsports in Riverside from 5-7 p.m. on January 31st.
###
About RCH Racing Soaring Eagle:
RCH Racing is in its second season of the partnership between Ricky Carmichael and Carey Hart. Ricky Carmichael merged his Suzuki relationship and technical development with the established five year marketing giant of Hart & Huntington Racing in 2013. The RCH Racing Soaring Eagle Team continues its partnerships with Suzuki, Fox, Dodge, Sycuan Casino, Yoshimura and Bel Ray. stay up to date on all RCH Racing Soaring Eagle news, follow us on Instagram and Twitter @RCHRacing and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/hartandhuntington.
Back to News