Suzuki Racers Post Fast Times at Round Five of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship
The legendary track, The Wick 338, hosted Round 5 of the AMA Pro Motocross season in Southwick, Massachusetts. The weather cooperated on the days leading up to the race; prior years saw rains wash away much of the sand that is brought in to make the track deeper and tougher. This year, the Massachusetts track again lived up to its brutal reputation of never-ending bumps and deep, unpredictable sand berms.
Race Highlights:
Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance
450 Class
Benoit Paturel delivered his season-best qualifying session result in the rougher, second session.
Colt Nichols also achieved season-bests, in both the first qualifying session as well as with his overall qualifying result.
Benoit Paturel (102) battled in the top ten in both motos at his first visit to The Wick 338.
Benoit Paturel (102) and his Suzuki RM-Z450 showed impressive speed throughout the day, achieving a season-best qualifying result in the second qualifying session. Paturel got top-ten starts on the deep, sandy start straight in both motos. In the second moto, Paturel stalled the engine just before the midpoint and had to battle forward on the unforgiving sand track. Paturel grabbed back four positions before the checkered flag came out and earned enough points to move up into a tie with the rider who was previously ahead of him in the point standings.
“It was an average day,” said Paturel. “In the first moto I was running in the top 10, but then I had a clutch problem that started on the second lap. In the second moto I was also riding in the top 10 early, but I stalled the bike, so I needed fight back. 13th overall was not what we wanted, but we’ll take it and we’re looking forward to RedBud.”
Colt Nichols (45) proved he had great speed at Southwick, earning a season-best overall qualifying spot.
Colt Nichols (45) was flowing in the deep sand from the start of the day. Nichols delivered his season-best qualifying position in the opening session that also earned him his season-best overall standing after qualifying. In the opening moto, Nichols got off to a strong start and crossed the holeshot stripe just outside of the top ten. Nichols battled up front until an unfortunate crash took him out of the points positions. A poor gate pick in the second moto resulted in a bad start, which unfortunately compounded into another crash, and Nichols was not able to put his strong pace to good use at Southwick.
“It was not a good day,” commented Nichols. “I crashed in both motos and couldn’t re-start the bike either time. That gave me two DNFs. I’m looking forward to rebounding at RedBud.
“In qualifying, Colt Nichols was 18th overall. For Benoit, this is this first time for all these tracks that he’s seeing them, so it takes him a little bit to get used to them,” said Dave Dye, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance’s in-house engine builder. “Overall, qualifying went well. We had a little bit of weather, but other than that it was good. In the race, Benoit went 14-14 for 13th overall. He rode well, was consistent, and he did all that he could do. Colt had a rough day. It started out bad in the first moto; he crashed, couldn’t get the bike started, and had a rough time. The second moto didn’t get much better. We’ll probably do some testing this week and then get back after it at RedBud.”
The series now heads to Buchanan, Michigan, for the RedBud National. The crowd-favorite event once again falls on the Fourth of July Holiday weekend. The Suzuki riders and crew members are ready to continue their season’s progress and excited to put more strong results up on the board.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
