SUZUKI FACTORY RACING TEAMS STRONG AT ANAHEIM III
February 2, 2015
BREA, CA – Anaheim, California is the symbolic home of the AMA/FIM Supercross Series and Saturday night in Angel Stadium the last of the three Anaheim events was completed. And even though Anaheim III was not the high-water mark, in the end the powerful Suzuki Racing team and its legendary Suzuki RM-Z450 came away from Anaheim having earned victory in two of the three events there. In addition, on Saturday night more riders raced Suzuki in the premier class than any other brand of motorcycle.
Suzuki Factory Racing Teams Strong at Anaheim III
Ken Roczen bounced back strong after his hard crash last weekend in Oakland, and Saturday night at Anaheim III in front of 43,441 fans at Angel Stadium, he finished fourth aboard his
RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki
RM-Z450, in round five of the 2015 AMA/FIM Supercross Series. Roczen’s finish keeps him solidly in the chase for the title as he leaves the final of the three Anaheim Supercross races second in the standings.
In spite of his solid turnaround from last week, after winning the first two Anaheim races Roczen was expecting more from himself and sounded a bit disappointed with his finish.
“My day didn’t go so good, “Roczen admitted. “I rode good in my Heat race, but my starts were killing me today and I ended up in fourth. I’m not too pumped, but it is what it is. It’s a long season and I have plenty of time to get things back on track, so that’s what I’ll be looking to do in San Diego next week.”
While Roczen was the highest scoring Suzuki rider, he shared the spotlight at Anaheim III with
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett. Baggett was one of the few riders who exceled on the unique elevated starting gate. The series rookie scored a couple of milestones by not only earning his first 450 main event holeshot on his Suzuki
RM-Z450, he also officially led his first lap in the premier class. Baggett came back down to earth somewhat after the awe-inspiring opening and eventually finished seventh. It marked his best result of the season.
“I got an awesome start and took the holeshot,” said Baggett, who also broke into the top-10 in the series standings for the first time. “I just tried to be consistent over most of the track and pushed in some areas. I also wanted to keep it on two wheels. I ended up dropping back to seventh. I’m going to try to keep building from there.”
One of Suzuki’s leading riders was sidelined for Anaheim III.
RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki’s Broc Tickle sat out this weekend’s race at Angel Stadium to recover from a back injury suffered last weekend at Oakland.
“I’m really bummed for Broc not being able to race this weekend,” said team co-owner Ricky Carmichael. “I know how hard he’s worked. The good thing is that he won’t be out very long. He's a student of the sport and, in fact, I’m sure he’ll use this weekend as a learning tool. Broc will be at the track this weekend with his teammates and play a key role in everything we’re doing.”
Suzuki had a huge presence at Anaheim III.
In fact, a total of 12 Suzuki riders made it into the evening program at Angel Stadium. That was more than any other manufacturer. As a worldwide leader in racing, Suzuki continues to project a strong presence in the AMA/FIM Supercross Series with the
RM-Z450 being the first choice for a long list of riders. Whether it be the Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing team, the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team, the support teams, or the hardworking, up-and-coming privateer riders, their collective passion and dedication to winning continues to energize Suzuki fans worldwide.
Five of those Suzuki riders made their way into the Main event. Brandon Scharer also deserves recognition for qualifying his ANSR/ProTaper/RaceTech Suzuki RM-Z250 into the evening program in the 250 West class.
Other Suzuki riders besides Roczen and Baggett who made the 450 Main at Anaheim III included Mike Alessi (17
th) on the Smartop/MotoConcepts Suzuki, Brett Metcalfe (18
th) on his Team Dirt Candy Graphics Suzuki and Nicholas Schmidt (21
st), who proudly made his first main event of 2015 aboard his Team 3BR/DSC Suzuki.
In addition to those five Main event riders, seven other Suzuki RM-Z450-mounted racers made that all-important jump of qualifying from the day session to the evening program, giving Suzuki abundant representation at Anaheim III. Those riders included AJ Catanzaro on the JMR Racing/Factory Suzuki, DirtCandy Graphics Suzuki’s Ronnie Stewart, Tevin Tapia on the Team 3BR Suzuki, Midwest Action Cycle Suzuki’s Alexander Nagy, Sweden’s Filip Thuresson aboard the KRT/Stapo MX International Racing Team Suzuki, DT1 Filters Suzuki’s Johnnie Buller and Kurtis Manderscheid on his B&E Machine/Merge Racing Suzuki.
Congratulations to all those riders, factory-backed and privateer alike, for flying high the banner of Suzuki and the
RM-Z450.
For Brett Metcalfe it was a night of highs and lows.
Metcalfe was inside the top 10 early in the Main, but eventually suffered a crash, which dropped him back.
“I was running there in the top 10, which is good,” Metcalfe explained. “It was the first time this year I’ve been up there. It felt nice and I had a real good run going. Then a little before halfway I lost my rhythm a little bit and I ended up crashing pretty good through the whoops. I damaged the bike a little bit, so after that I just rode to salvage a finish. I’m looking forward to San Diego. It’s going to be my last run in Supercross this year.”
The likable Australian veteran nicknamed “Metty” is leaving the Supercross series to prepare for the upcoming Canadian National Motocross Championship, a series he won in 2013.
Schmidt was excited about making his first Main of the season.
“We’ve been making the setup better each weekend,” Schmidt said of his Team 3BR/DSC Suzuki
RM-Z450. “I qualified my best all year, I think it was 21
st. I had a good start in the main event and I was working my way up when I made a mistake in the sand section. It got me and I fell down from there. I’m going to build off this weekend and I’m looking forward to San Diego.”
Team Suzuki will hit the track again this coming Saturday (Feb. 7, 2015) at round six of the 2015 AMA/FIM Supercross Championship at PETCO Park in San Diego, California. The race will be televised live on Fox Sport 1 starting at 10:00 pm Eastern.
Back to News