Suzuki Riders Rack Up Points at the Pittsburgh Supercross
It had been 42 years since the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship visited Pittsburgh, and Acrisure Stadium was packed and loud with wildly enthusiastic race fans. Heavy rains the night prior impacted the practice schedule with the elimination of the first free practice, but the weather and track were in excellent condition when the starting gate dropped for the Pittsburgh Supercross.
Race Highlights:
Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki
450 Class
Ken Roczen won his heat race and took sole possession of third place on the all-time premier class heat race wins.
Twisted Tea Suzuki Presented by Progressive Insurance
450 Class
Colt Nichols used another strong ride to advance one position in the championship point standings.
Kyle Chisholm also used Pittsburgh Supercross points to move up in the point standings.
Ken Roczen (94) was blistering fast in his heat and the early laps of the main event at the Pittsburgh Supercross.
Though he is nursing two separate injuries, one to his shoulder and one to his ankle, Ken Roczen (94) was on a great pace from the first gate drop. Roczen took over the heat race lead before the second corner and never relinquished it. In the main event, Roczen was on the move early, charging from eighth to fifth before the first lap was completed. He put his Suzuki RM-Z450’s strong torque and precise handling to good use and picked off two more riders; that put him into third place. Roczen held third for much of the first half of the race, then surrendered a couple positions. On the final lap Roczen held fifth with the fourth-place rider right ahead and the sixth-place rider right behind. Roczen took the left side in the option lane to make a run for fourth, but the rider behind him made contact and pushed him over the berm. Roczen kept it on two wheels and rode it to the finish. Roczen maintains third in the championship chase heading into the final two rounds.
“It was really cool coming here to Pittsburgh. The stadium was super packed, and the fans were going crazy,” said Roczen. “We’ve just been trying our best on the weekends. The last two weeks have been really tough and I’m definitely not at my best right now. I need some time to heal and get back to peak performance, so right now it’s been a bit rough. I’m really trying to go in the beginning, and the whoops were super tough tonight. I almost ended myself in those and decided to start jumping them. It wasn’t necessarily the fastest, but I was trying to hang in there. We were riding in third and fourth for quite some time, and I just made a couple of mistakes throughout the race. Another rider and I got together in the end, too. Right now, we’re just maintaining. It’s unfortunate that the results are not there, but we have a couple to go, and we just want to stay on two wheels and do our best to stay in the game.”
Colt Nichols (45) was in the battle throughout the main event inside Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Colt Nichols (45) turned a mid-pack start into a direct transfer position in his heat race. It was the second time in two weeks that all three Suzuki riders were seeded into the same heat race, and all transferred directly to the main. In the main event, Nichols used his RM-Z 450’s horsepower to charge to a strong start. After some early shuffling in the tight pack, Nichols battled just outside of the top ten for much of the Pittsburgh main event.
“I actually was in the fight at the first part of the race,” stated Nichols. “I came out of the gate much better in the main event and rode well for the first bit of the main. I got a little bit tight, made some mistakes, and went a little bit backwards but overall, it was a better night in a lot of ways for the main event. I finished P-12 so there’s still a lot of work to do, a lot of things to improve, but I’m taking the positives from tonight and going into Denver excited for the last two rounds.”
Kyle Chisholm (11) recovered nicely from a poor start in the main event to gain positions through the race.
Kyle Chisholm (11) battled inside of the transfer positions throughout the heat race to earn a direct transfer in the main. Chisholm had a tall order after a 20th place start in the main event, but he ticked off laps and earned spots. When the checkered flag flew Chisholm had gained enough points to move his Twisted Tea Suzuki up one spot in the point standings.
“We had a bunch of rain overnight, so we had a shortened day again. It’s kind of the theme here up in the Northeast with these races,” said Chisholm. “It turned out to be a pretty dry racetrack. I just never really felt as good as I wanted to out there today. It wasn’t my best stuff. I wish I was a little bit better, I’m trying to do my best, but it just wasn’t my best… I want to be up close to the top 10 and I’ve got two more rounds to do it. We’ll go back to work this week and try to finish out these last two strong.”
“We got lucky with the weather, that’s for sure,” started Larry Brooks, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager. “Ken Roczen finished sixth, Colt Nichols finished 12th, and Kyle Chisholm finished 16th. So, we had three guys in the main event again, but we’re still struggling with some injuries and trying to get the best results we can… Ken won his heat, which was really good, and Colt and Kyle both qualified straight out of that heat race, so it was a good night. We have two more races after this. Denver’s next weekend and we’re just going to keep grinding away.”
With only two rounds remaining in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, the Suzuki riders and team members are intensely focused on the next round at Empower Field at Mile High, in Denver, Colorado, and then the finale one week later at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s been a dramatic and satisfying season, including one main event victory, and Suzuki is excited to execute more strong performances at the final rounds.
