BREA, CA (Jan. 25, 2016) – It was a good night for Suzuki riders at Anaheim II for the third round of the 2016 AMA Supercross Series. Both Ken Roczen, on his Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki RM-Z450, and Kyle Cunningham, riding his Motorcycle Superstore/Suzuki RM-Z250, scored their best results so far in the 2016 campaign. Roczen made a strong charge through the field to score his first podium of the season in the premier Supercross class, while Cunningham turned in a solid seventh-place finish in the 250 West Supercross class.
Concluding the events at Angel Stadium, Roczen remains in the thick of the 450SX championship battle and Cunningham cracks the top-10 in the 250SX West Series standings for the first time this season.
Suzuki highlights for this weekend’s racing at Anaheim II included:
- RCH Suzuki Factory Racing’s Ken Roczen scores his first Supercross podium of 2016.
- Motorcycle Superstore/Suzuki’s Kyle Cunningham races the Suzuki RM-Z250 to a season-best seventh in the Anaheim II 250 West Supercross final.
- A total of nine Suzuki riders - six on Suzuki RM-Z450s and three aboard Suzuki RM-Z250s – qualify for the evening program at Anaheim II.
- Dirt Candy Graphics/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Luke Clout wins the 250 West LCQ.
Roczen’s Surge Leads to Podium Finish
RCH Suzuki’s Ken Roczen tapped into the enormous potential of the Suzuki RM-Z450 and went from ninth to third in the course of the 20-lap Anaheim II final. It marked his first podium result of the season and kept Roczen squarely in the battle for the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
“I’m obviously happy to be back on the box,” Roczen said after his amazing charge. “But I want to be at the very top. My starts have been holding me back. We’re just going to keep practicing them and I think at one point they will come. Other than that I feel super strong. I was riding good and towards the end I made up some time. It was only good enough for third place, but we are coming back and getting stronger every single race.”
Roczen remains sixth in the points, but is right there in a five-way battle for second in the series standings, where second through sixth are separated by only eight total points.
Cunningham Scores His Best Finish of the Season
Kyle Cunningham managed to nail down his best finish of the season aboard his Motorcycle Superstore/Suzuki RM-Z250 at Anaheim II. Cunningham finished a solid seventh place, and as a result, moved inside the top 10 in the AMA 250 West Region Supercross point standings.
“It seems like every time I get on the bike it just gets better,” Cunningham said of his Suzuki RM-Z250. “I just thank my whole team for all the work they’ve been putting in. In the main I was able to make some good passes early and ride a pretty solid race for seventh. I look forward to keep progressing and heading to Oakland and try to improve our result again. From the first race to now we’ve made a lot of gains.”
Luke Clout made Suzuki fans proud when he won the 250 West Last Chance Qualifier on his Dirt Candy Graphics/Yoshimura/Suzuki RM-Z250.
Of the other notable Team Suzuki stars, Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart, elected to sit out in Anaheim II, still recovering from his Anaheim I fall at the start of the season. He and teammate Blake Baggett are slated to be back in action next weekend in Oakland. Also, RCH Suzuki’s Broc Tickle will be sidelined for several weeks after being injured in a practice crash.
Other Suzuki riders to make the main events at Anaheim II included Suzuki RM-Z450 riders Nicholas Schmidt with Team3BR DSC Construction Suzuki and Jeff Alessi on his MotoConcepts Racing Suzuki. Those riding Suzuki RM-Z250s in the 250 West main included Cunningham and Clout.
Suzuki-mounted riders qualifying for the evening show in the 450SX class included Alexander Nagy on the MicroBilt/PRBC Suzuki, Teddy Parks on his TPJ/ Fly Racing/Suzuki entry, and DT1 Filters Suzuki’s Johnnie Buller. In the 250SX West action, Killian Auberson put his TPJ/Fly Racing/Suzuki RM-Z250 inside the Fast 40.
Team Suzuki will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 30, at round four of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series at O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.
The Oakland round will be shown live on Fox Sports 1 starting at 7 pm local time.
