Press Release | June 16, 2020
JGRMX/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Racing’s Broc Tickle achieves his season best at Utah Supercross
This is a press release from Suzuki…
Salt Lake City, UT (June 16, 2020) – JGRMX/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki Racing’s Broc Tickle put in a strong result at Round 15 of the 2020 Monster Energy AMA/ FIM World Supercross series in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday night to equal his season best result so far.
Under a closed-to-spectators track due to the ongoing Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, Tickle turned a LCQ holeshot into a second-place finish, and then battled towards a top-10 position on his Suzuki RM-Z450, while teammate Fredrik Noren showed top form, but a mistake prevented the finish that his speed promised.
In the 250 West Coast class, Suzuki RM-Z250 rider Alex Martin had an impressive second-place finish in his heat race but was derailed by an on-track incident in the Main Event.
After missing a direct transfer by one spot in his heat race, Tickle pulled a holeshot in the LCQ and brought his JGR-tuned RM-Z450 in with a second-place finish. In the Main, he recovered from a disappointing jump off the gate and charged back to a 12th place finish; a step forward in his progress after a mid-season hand injury.
Said Tickle: “Overall it was a better day on the track today. We made some changes in the right direction to give me more comfort on the bike. In the LCQ it was good to get a holeshot and get some more laps on the track.”
Team Manager Jeremy Albrecht said: “Tickle was feeling good but this track was tougher on his hand. He kept pushing every race to do his best and ended up 12th in the Main. I know Broc can do even better at these next two rounds.”
Noren began the day with a strong start in his heat race but eventually lost the direct transfer position. In the LCQ, he was caught-up in a first turn pile-up and immediately began his charge through the pack; ultimately missing the Main by a couple of positions. Noren felt good about his progress as it reinforced that he has the speed to finish the season strong.
He said: “It may not show but I had some good improvements this race. We made some small changes to the bike that I really liked, and my riding is getting better. I’m really looking forward to finishing strong in the next two rounds.”
In 250 West racing, Martin had a strong heat race, quickly turning a fifth-place start into a second-place position. In the Main, ‘A-Mart’ started near the front and ran most of the race inside the top-10, but a mistake involving a crashed ‘lapper’ ended his night with disappointing results. Martin remains determined to make his way up to the podium.
Said Martin: “I qualified better in practice and my intensity was coming around. My heat race was good with a strong finish. I’m very frustrated with the Main but also motivated to end the series on a high note next weekend.”
The JGRMX/ Yoshimura/ Suzuki team will gear up again this Wednesday, June 17th for another 7:00 PM ET race in Salt Lake City and is looking to focus its efforts on strong rides from each of its racers.
