Paturel Moves Up in the Standings at Round 9 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship
After two weekends without an event, the 2025 AMA Pro Motocross season returned to racing with the Ironman National, Round 9 of the 11-round championship. High temperatures and thick humidity, combined with a deeply ripped racetrack, challenged the racers in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The race kicked off the final three-round sweep of the summer motocross season.
Race Highlights:
Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance
450 Class
Benoit Paturel performed brilliantly in qualifying and earned career-best final session and overall qualifying results.
Benoit Paturel (102) kicked off the opening 450-Class moto with a top-three start; he earned enough points at the Ironman National to move his Suzuki RM-Z450 up one position in the championship standings.
Benoit Paturel (102) adapted quickly on his first visit to Ironman Raceway, matching his season-best qualifying result after the opening session. Paturel then found more speed, wrapping up qualifying with a top-ten session result for a top-ten overall qualifying spot. When the gate dropped for the racing, Paturel put his Twisted Tea Suzuki’s horsepower to good use and crossed the holeshot stripe in third place. Paturel battled inside the top-ten in the early part of the moto and held on for a top-15 result. Paturel’s second-moto start was a stark reversal of fortune; he hit the ground and had to charge after the pack from 40th place. Paturel clawed his way back into a points-paying position by the moto’s midpoint. From there, Paturel gained a few more spots, 21 positions in all, before the checkered flag flew.
“In the first moto I got a good start, but at end of the race I got tired,” said Paturel. “In the second moto I crashed in the start and had a long way to go to get back into the points. Overall, my riding and speed were good this weekend, and the team did an excellent job. I just need to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I’m looking forward to Unadilla next weekend.
“We only had one rider this weekend, Benoit Paturel. Colt Nichols’ injury required thumb surgery and he will unfortunately miss the rest of the outdoors,” reported Larry Brooks, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager. “Benoit qualified 10th in timed practice, giving us high hopes and thinking everything was lined up to go well, but it didn’t. In the first moto he got a good start and rounded the first corner in third place. He ran 11th for a long time but then at the end of the race he faded to 13th. It was a hot day, and a lot of people were struggling with the heat. In the second moto he fell in the first turn, picked up his bike in dead last, and worked his way up to 19th place, giving him an overall finish of 18th. It’s not really what we expected, it’s not really what we wanted, but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you think it’s going to, and you’ve just got to pick up the pieces and move on. Next weekend is Unadilla and we’re hoping for better results.”
The Suzuki team now travels to New York state for the Unadilla National in New Berlin. The team is excited for another opportunity to move up in the motocross point standings and possibly see some of its Supercross-only riders return to racing in preparation for the SMX World Championship post-season.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
