TOP-10 RESULTS FOR SUZUKI RIDERS IN ST. LOUIS SUPERCROSS
March 28, 2015
ST. LOUIS, MO – Broc Tickle, aboard the RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450, and Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450 rider Blake Baggett tallied top-10 finishes in the St. Louis Supercross Saturday night in front of 58,552 fans in the Edward Jones Dome. Tickle finished ninth and Baggett 10th. It was good night as well for ProMotoFan.com/Fly Racing Privateer Journey Suzuki’s Nick Schmidt. Schmidt made his sixth Supercross final of the season and raced to a season best of 14th. In 250 East Supercross action it was another step up the ladder for AJ Catanzaro who once again made the 250 Main on his JMR Racing/Factory Suzuki RM-Z250 and scored his best result of the year so far in 14th.
The climb in the series standings continues for Tickle and Baggett. Both moved up in the rankings after the St. Louis results. Baggett is now tied for sixth in the AMA/FIM Supercross standings, while Tickle moved up to ninth.
Tickle Stays Consistent
Broc Tickle remained consistent at St. Louis on his RCH Suzuki. He scored his eighth consecutive top-10 finish, resulting in moving from 10th to ninth in the standings. Tickle ran as high as sixth in St. Louis, before losing a few positions later in the race. Finishing races stronger is the primary goal for Tickle as he looks towards the last four rounds of the series. In spite of rarely putting a wheel wrong in the Main events on his nimble RM-Z450, Tickle feels he may actually be overtraining during the week.
“I’m going to go back home and regroup,” Tickle said. “We’ve got a weekend off and I think that will be good for me. I’ve been training like crazy during the week and it’s not working, so we’ll go back home, work on what we need to get better and come to Houston and be 100 percent ready.”
Baggett Overcomes Illness
By all rights Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett probably should have been on the couch watching Saturday night’s race, but he’s one of the tough breed of racers who puts on the hard hat and punches the clock even when he’s not 100 percent. Such was the case for Baggett in St. Louis. He was ill all week leading up to the race, which severely limited his normal training routine. And even though he felt weak on race day, Baggett and his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 had enough juice to finish inside the top 10.
Blake’s persistence paid off too. Baggett now shares sixth place in the standings with fellow rookie Jason Anderson. He also talked about one of the rites of spring, initial testing for the upcoming outdoor motocross season.
“I came in under the weather a little bit,” admitted Baggett, who is always reluctant to make any statement that sounds like an excuse. “I got tenth and I’ll take that. I’ll leave healthy and look forward to a week off where we can do some outdoor testing. I’m getting ready for that and looking to regroup for the final rounds of the Supercross season.”
Schmidt Earns His Best of 2015 Despite Fall
Nick Schmidt showed great determination in St. Louis. He suffered a crash on his ProMotoFan.com Suzuki RM-Z450 in the Main, but was able to get right back on his bike and rally to finish 14th. It marked the sixth time he’s been able to make the Main and resulted in Schmidt’s best finish of the season.
“I got a good start in the Main and then got pinched out wide behind a pileup,” Schmidt explained. “Then I came back and was in 15th I think and then fell down. I got back up and salvaged a 14th, so I was pretty happy on the night and we’ll keep building from here. My Suzuki is working great and I couldn’t be happier.”
Ronnie Stewart was the other Suzuki rider in the 450 Main on his DirtCandy Graphics, PRBC.com Suzuki. It was Stewart’s fourth Supercross Main of the year. He’s still working to get back to full fitness in his return from injury, a true testament of just how grueling a 20-lap race can be.
“I made the Main out of my Semi,” Stewart said. “I’m mainly struggling with the amount to laps in the Main event. With the injury that I had and taking four or five weeks off the bike and just going straight to racing is really tough. I feel like I’m only going to get stronger each week and we have another four races, so I’m hopeful that I can keep building and get stronger for Supercross and also prepare for the outdoors.”
St. Louis = Best for Catanzaro
Things continue to look up for JMR Racing/Factory Suzuki’s AJ Catanzaro. He made his fourth 250 East Main of the year and finished a season-best 14th.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Catanzaro said. “We made some suspension changes this week. The motor on my RM-Z250 is definitely strong. I got pinched off at the start and was dead last and was able to work my way up to 14th. It’s ultimately not where I want to be, but the bike is running good and I hope to go out with a bang in the last couple of races.”
In the 450 class Tevin Tapia, Dustin Pipes, Alexander Nagy, Teddy Parks and Johnnie Buller earned congratulations for making it out of the day program to qualify their RM-Z450s into the evening show, as did Michael Mims on his RM-Z250 in the 250 East class. Vicki Golden continued her brave quest of being the first female in the evening show of an AMA/FIM Supercross event, but came up short in St. Louis. She qualified 48th out of 53 riders.
Suzuki Supercross riders now enjoy a week off during Easter and will be back in action for beginning the final drive of the 2015 Supercross season, Saturday, April 11 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Riders, including Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett and RCH Suzuki's Broc Tickle, will be on hand to greet fans and sign autographs on Friday, April 10, at Cycle Shack North, 1101 I-45 South, Conroe, Texas, from 6:00-7:00 pm.
Back to News