TEAM SUZUKI SCORES IN BIG NEW JERSEY WEEKEND
May 3, 2016
RACE WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
If you are a motorcycle-racing fan, New Jersey was the place to be this weekend. East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium hosted the penultimate round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, while downstate it was New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville featuring MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport racing. In both instances, Team Suzuki showed off the performance advantage of Suzuki motorcycles.
Team Suzuki highlights for this big New Jersey weekend included:
- Ken Roczen scored victory for the second weekend in a row on his Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki RM-Z450 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
- M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki's Cameron Petersen and teammate Valentin Debise scored a 1-2 finish on their GSX-R600s.
Seven Team Suzuki riders made the main events at MetLife Stadium, five on Suzuki RM-Z450s and two on Suzuki RM-Z250s.
Roczen Gets SX Win #5 at MetLife Stadium
Ken Roczen continued his strong surge in Monster Energy AMA Supercross by taking victory Saturday night in front of 59,311 fans at MetLife Stadium. The RCH Suzuki rider dominated on his powerful Suzuki RM-Z450 en route to a second straight win, fifth of the season.
"We did exactly what we wanted to do tonight," said RCH Racing's Ken Roczen. "We got the holeshot and put in 20 solid laps. The track was in great condition. We did what we had to do, and we'll look ahead to try and get another one next weekend."
Roczen was joined in the MetLife Supercross main by fellow Suzuki RM-Z450 riders Blake Baggett (Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing), Roczen’s RCH Suzuki teammates Broc Tickle and Jake Weimer, and Nicholas Schmidt (TPJ/Fly Racing/Suzuki).
In 250 East Supercross action, Matthew Bisceglia (MAD Racing/Yoshimura/Suzuki) and Jimmy Albertson (Motorcycle Superstore Suzuki) represented Team Suzuki racing their nimble Suzuki RM-Z250s to the main event.
The 2016 Supercross season comes to an end next Saturday, May 7, with the Monster Energy Supercross Finals from Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium. Action gets underway at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT.
Fans have the opportunity to meet Team Suzuki riders and get autographs on Friday May 6, from 6-7:00 p.m. at Carter Powersports, 6275 S. Decatur Blvd., Las Vegas, 89118.
Petersen Scores His 1st Victory on GSX-R600
It was a memorable day at New Jersey Motorsports Park for Spanish-born South African Cameron Petersen. He scored his first-career MotoAmerica Supersport victory in Sunday’s race aboard his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600. Petersen earned the victory in challenging rainy conditions.
"It was a tough race," said Cameron Petersen, M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing, "I knew that I stood a better chance in these conditions."
The victory was also Team Hammer’s 60th win in MotoAmerica/AMA Pro competition. And to cap it off, Petersen’s teammate Valentin Debise finished second in the race, giving M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki an outstanding 1-2 result.
Larry Pegram performed like the cagey Superbike veteran he is with two tremendous rides during his one-off weekend substitute duty on the M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike. Pegram came home in fourth overall in race one and he backed that up with a sixth overall in race two to earn the accolade of top Suzuki rider in the Superbike races at New Jersey.
The man with a van and a plan, Hayden Gillim, also earned a standout finish of fourth overall, placing second in Superstock 1000 on his Cycle World Suzuki GSX-R1000 in Superbike race two.
Team Suzuki road racers will be back in action in two weeks as Round 4 of the AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship on May 13-15 at Virginia International Raceway, in Alton, Virginia.
Tricker Storms To WXC Victory in S.C.
Team Obermeyer/MCS Racing Suzuki’s Mackenzie Tricker weathered the storm in South Carolina to take her second WXC win of the 2016 GNCC season. The Australian rider exited the first turn near the front of the field and quickly moved her RM-Z250 into 2nd place by the end of first lap.
“It was like a river out there," said Mackenzie Tricker. "There was so much water and some deep holes; people were stuck everywhere, but I managed to find some good lines around the worst of the sections. At mile marker 10 on the last lap, I was in a 3-way battle not knowing it was going to be the last lap, but with lightning and thunder I figured they may call the race short, so it was a sprint to the finish, and I was able to get it done and take the win!"
With course conditions quickly deteriorating, Tricker used the nimble handling of her RM-Z250 to close the 1:05 deficit on the leader and take over the lead on the final lap to capture her second WXC win and overall win for the morning event.
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