The following is from Yoshimura Suzuki…
SAN BERNARDINO, CA (May 26, 2014) – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart pressed forward with grit and determination at round one of the AMA Pro Motocross Championships at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA, on Saturday. Although Stewart suffered some bad luck in both 30-minute motos, he still managed to race his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to a respectable sixth-place result overall at the season-opening round of the series.
After a four-year hiatus from racing at the infamous Southern California track, the series returned to Glen Helen for round one of the championships and Stewart was ready. Unfortunately, he got a poor start in the first moto but he still managed to work his way up to make a bid for the podium. But then another rider slowed in front of him and Stewart ran into him.
“It was a rough day,” said Stewart. “It was a very rough day. In the first moto, I got a bad start but I made my way up to fourth and ended up running into the back of a guy. I don’t know if he stalled it or if he went to switch lines, but he basically stopped in the corner and I hit him. But I picked the bike back up and got up in 13th and made my way back up to sixth.”
The second moto saw Stewart get a better start on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 but then he got caught up with another rider. Despite a few setbacks, Stewart turned up the heat and made his way through the field to finish sixth again. The two sixth-place moto results gave him sixth overall for the day.
“In the second moto I got a good jump off the start,” said Stewart. “I don’t know what happened, but I got tangled with another rider and I almost went down. So I steadily worked my way up and was catching up to fifth. But I made a couple of mistakes and some guys got around me. Then I almost lost it and took about 30 fans out and went into the fence, but I saved it. We’ll salvage the points from this race and we’ll be back next week. We’ve got the first race out of the way. We know how the series is, things don’t start really kicking in until round three or four. We’ll get off this Glen Helen dirt and get up to Hangtown and go on from there.”
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next race is round two of the 2014 AMA Pro Motocross Championships on Saturday, May 31st, at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Sacramento, CA.
2014 Glen Helen MX 450 Results:
1. Ryan Dungey (3-1)
2. Ken Roczen (2-2)
3. Trey Canard (7-3)
4. Brett Metcalfe (4-5)
5. Josh Grant (1-15)
6. James Stewart (6-6)
7. Malcolm Stewart (8-8)
8. Jake Weimer (10-7)
9. Weston Peick (5-13)
10. Chad Reed (9-10)
2014 AMA Pro Motocross 450 Standings:
1. Ryan Dungey – 45
2. Ken Roczen – 44
3. Trey Canard – 34
4. Brett Metcalfe – 34
5. Josh Grant – 31
6. James Stewart – 30
7. Malcolm Stewart – 26
8. Jake Weimer – 25
9. Weston Peick – 24
10. Chad Reed – 23
Check out the Glen Helen “Behind The Scenes Race Report” below
