Tickle Turns in Season Best, Bogle Sidelined for Main Event at Round 3
ANAHEIM, Calif., (January 23, 2017) – It was a tale of two races for RCH/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing Saturday night when Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, returned to Angel Stadium for Round 3 of the 2017 season.
Broc Tickle, rider of RCH’s No. 20 Suzuki RM-Z450, faced his share of challenges Saturday night but the series veteran stayed the course and came away from the third race of the year with a season-best 12th-place finish.
“Anaheim was a good weekend,” offered Tickle. “We worked on starts quite a bit during the week so I was confident coming into the race. Practice went well and I put in some good times. I finished sixth in my heat, which was decent for where I started. The semi was stacked so I knew I needed to get out front early. I made a couple passes to get up to second so I felt good.
“The first corner in the main was pretty tight and everyone was bunched up in the middle. I came out seventh or eighth. I had some problems a few corners later. I cut down on a corner, came in hot on the inside, and someone cut down in front of me. I ended up t-boning them and falling over so I had to come from dead last. I rode back up to 12th and put in some good laps. I had good speed all night so if I could have gotten a decent start that would have helped.”
Justin Bogle, Tickle’s teammate and rider of the No. 19 Suzuki, started his night by winning the hole shot in the first 450SX heat race of the program. Unfortunately the 2014 Eastern Regional 250SX Class Champion suffered a hard crash two corners later and was forced to sit out the main event.
“It was a tough night,” explained Bogle. “We ripped the hole shot in our heat but came up short on a jump a couple corners later. I was hoping I’d be ok for the main so we went out in the semi to see where I was physically but there was just no way. I went to the hospital to get checked out and fortunately, there wasn’t anything major. Bruised lungs and some other minor stuff but I’ll be fine. We’re not exactly sure on recovery time yet so we’ll have to wait and see how this week goes before making a decision about Phoenix.”
University of Phoenix Stadium plays host this weekend when Monster Energy AMA Supercross visits Glendale, Ariz., and the home the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. Round 4 of the 2017 Supercross championship will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 Saturday, Jan. 28 beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 6 p.m. Pacific.
