Team Suzuki Press Office – March 9.
With Ken Roczen side-lined after re-injuring his ankle, RCH Suzuki Factory Racing still took home positives from the weekend’s AMA/ FIM World Supercross 10th round at Daytona International Speedway in Florida, America.
Team-mate Broc Tickle was left to carry the torch for the RCH Soaring Eagle/ Jimmy Johns/ Suzuki Factory Racing team, and, despite getting together with Trey Canard in the first corner and essentially starting dead last, Tickle rallied for an admirable 10th-place finish.
“I had a good feeling,” commented Tickle following the race. “I got a decent jump on the gate but I tangled with (Trey) Canard in the first corner and we both went down. So I pretty much started dead last and worked my way all the way up to 10th. On lap two-or-three, I had the fastest lap of the race so I’m stoked about that! I haven’t been the fastest guy on the track in a while so that’s a great thing to build off-of. On top of that, I felt like my fitness level was really good. I’m pumped with all of the positives but bummed with the negatives. I had a great race but unfortunately, the end result doesn’t really reflect that.”
Rewind to earlier in the day, where Roczen had just posted the fastest time of the of weekend’s opening 450SX practice. A lap later, the 20-year-old German caught his left foot on a tuff block and re-injured the same ankle he hurt two races ago in Atlanta. Following the incident, the team made the difficult decision to sit Roczen-out for the night.
“It was a rough night across the board for RCH,” explained RCH co-owner Ricky Carmichael. “Obviously we’re all concerned about Ken and hope his ankle heals quickly so he can be back on the bike soon. Everyone is behind him 100 percent. He’s going to get it looked at first thing this week, and we’ll make a decision, as a team, about what’s next when we know exactly where he’s at.
“Broc had a great night. Even though the results say he finished 10th, he put together a great race. If he hadn’t had the issue with Canard, I think he could have finished on the podium. He showed what a gritty racer he is. I think this is the proudest I’ve been to see one of our guys finish 10th.”
The top-10 effort allowed Tickle to close the points-deficit between him and ninth-placed Andrew Short to just two points. Roczen slipped from third to fourth in the standings.
Monster Energy Supercross kicks-off three consecutive stops in the heart of the Midwest beginning next weekend when the series visits Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Daytona 450 Supercross Results: 1. Ryan Dungey (KTM), 2. Eli Tomac (Honda), 3. Blake Baggett (Yoshimura Suzuki), 4. Cole Seely (Honda), 5. Chad Reed (Kawasaki), 6. Trey Canard (Honda), 7. Jason Anderson (Husqvarna), 8. Weston Peick (Yamaha), 9. Davi Millsaps (Kawasaki), 10.Broc Tickle (RCH Suzuki).