RCH SOARING EAGLE TEAM ROLLS INTO INDY READY
March 3, 2014
Indianapolis, IN (March 3, 2014) - The RCH Soaring Eagle Supercross Team rolled into the home of the Indianapolis 500 ready to race. Although the Indy 500 is billed as the "greatest spectacle in racing," the passionate SX fans packed into the Lucas Oil Dome were treated to arguably the best race of the season. Broc Tickle #20 demonstrated real professionalism after last week's "incident" and the entire team was ready to race rather than talk about what happened in the past.
"I know its racing, but I think it was a little overboard," Tickle told Racer X Films during the week. "I feel like I regrouped really well and I am really looking forward to Indy and the Eastern tracks." See the whole interview here:
Both RCH Soaring Eagle Suzuki’s were flying in qualifying, easily turning lap times inside the top 10. Broc was 8th fastest in the afternoon sessions and Josh was literally a fraction of a second behind his teammate 55.491 vs. 55.646. Just about a second slower than the fast lap set by another Suzuki rider, James Stewart. Good showing given just how soft and rutted the track was. "Days like today when the conditions are rutty as they were at the Indy SX is when I miss racing," tweeted team principal and widely acknowledged as "The Greatest Of All Time" Ricky Carmichael. "My favorite conditions!"
Heat #1 saw Tickle get a 5th place start, but last week's winner Ken Roczen dropped him to 6th. and then #1 plate holder Ryan Villopoto got by, as did Dean Wilson, ensuring that BT#20 would have to race again in the semi. "Today was rough until the main," said Broc. "I struggled with the track and flowing throughout the heat race and the semi. We tried different stuff throughout the night, but for the main, we went back to my base set-up."
Heat #2 was Hill's turn to hit adversity. Josh was going against a deck stacked with the day's fastest qualifier, James Stewart. Despite the stiff competition, Josh was running in 6th at the end of the first lap, but only the top four make it directly into the main event. He dropped back to 7th with two laps to go, bounced back into 6th at the checkered flag, but still too far back to catch a top 4 transfer spot.
450 Semi #1 saw Suzukis battling for the top spots, with Tickle lining up next to Weston Peick, who took the holeshot with Tickle in hot pursuit. Meanwhile Hill's choice of the inside gate position backfired big time. The Fox Sports broadcast team even showed how bad Josh was shut out in ultra slow-motion —it offered a great look at the sponsors' logos, but it was not the start that Josh wanted, obviously. Tickle moved into second, however Hill put a clean pass on his teammate with two laps to go and starts chasing privateer Peick for the semi win. By the time the checkers drop, the top three riders have gapped the rest of the field by more than 10 seconds showing just how much speed the Suzukis have. Best race of the year for both teammates, and not too shabby for Suzuki to win both Heat races (Alessi and Stewart) as well as to fly in formation 1-2-3 in the first semi.
Unfortunately Hill's earlier speed was for naught as he was caught up in a first turn crash with Roczen and fellow Suzuki rider James Stewart. While teammate Tickle was winning the war of attrition as riders like Roczen and Pieck retired with damaged bikes, Hill had his work cut out for him! Despite being caught up in the carnage Hill put in an amazing ride, After being dead last for the first five laps, Hill eventually hooked up with James Stewart and the two of them knifed through the pack, clocking some of the fastest lap times of the race as he kept charging to a top 10 finish.
"Made some big strides today… with my bike, my health and most importantly, my attitude," said Josh after his amazing charge. "Coming from dead last all the way up to 9th was good. But the fact that I actually had fun doing it is great!"
Speaking of great, 5th is Broc's best 450 Supercross finish. "I got off to an okay start… around 10th, and knew I needed to be solid for the full 20 laps," explained Tickle. "I rode smart and smooth. Meanwhile guys were making mistakes and I started picking them off." Broc worked his way up to 4th, but defending champ Ryan Villopoto got by him on lap 13 of 20. "I latched onto RV and stayed right behind him for the rest of the race. Tonight turned around… I got my best 450 main event result after we started the night chasing settings."
Moving forward, Tickle says, "I'm looking forward to building on this result. I can't thank everyone in the RCH Soaring Eagle crew enough for all their hard work. It's paying off!" The payoff is also showing in the series points standings as Tickle holds a well-deserved top 10 and Hill holds onto 13th place despite missing three races.
Don't miss any of action at RCH Racing Soaring Eagle Team pits before each Supercross race. Fans are treated to everything from the Suzuki Holeshot Experience to team autograph signings. Some lucky winner also gets an all-expense paid trip to the Soaring Eagle Luxury Resort every week! Come by the rig and meet @SierraMerchant to enter the getaway to @SoaringEagleResort. Next week the RCH Racing Soaring Eagle team heads outdoors to the beach… Daytona Beach during Bike Week for Round 10 on March 8.
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About RCH Racing Soaring Eagle:
RCH Racing is in its second season of the partnership between Ricky Carmichael and Carey Hart to campaign the Feld Motor Sports® 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship season. 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, @SoaringEagleResort, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hartandhuntington.
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