Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Teammates Battle for Championship

April 28, 2011, 1:35pm

CORONA, Calif. - Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammates Broc Tickle and Josh Hansen take their championship battle for the AMA Supercross Lites, Western Region to the Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City as the series winds down with two races to go. Tickle currently leads the series over Hansen by two points with both riders hungry to take home their first AMA championship.

Tickle took over the lead at the previous round in Seattle with a third-place finish. The podium result came only a short time after he injured his collar bone while preparing for the race, and now with more time on the bike going into the penultimate round, he looks to extend his lead in Salt Lake City.

“I didn’t really want to make excuses in Seattle and now that I have a little more time back on the bike, I am feeling a lot more confident that I can go out and win,” said Tickle. “I’ve really liked Salt Lake City in the past. I want to get another win under my belt this season, but obviously the championship is the most important thing I’ll be thinking about.”

Not going down without a fight, Hansen continued to prove he is determined to win the championship. In Seattle, he re-injured his hand, but still went on to win his heat race and eventually finish sixth in the main event despite the pain. With an off-weekend prior to Salt Lake City, Hansen has been able to recover to go out and collect more points to get him to his first AMA championship.

“I’m not giving up on this championship,” said Hansen. “I might be less than 100 percent physically, but I’m going to give more than that when I’m on the track. I have had a championship slip away from me before and I will do everything I can to not see that happen again.”

Looking to grab his third podium finish of the year, Tyla Rattray continued to prove he is worthy of being out with the front-runners after a fourth-place finish in Seattle. He has four top-five finishes this year and the supercross rookie is hoping to add to that already impressive number.

“For my first year racing supercross, I think I’ve done pretty well,” said Rattray. “I’ve had a few bad races and had to deal with an injury, but it’s been fun. I want to end the year well and move onto what I know best (motocross).”

The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team is in the home stretch with only two rounds remaining in the AMA Supercross Lites, Western Region series. The series makes it penultimate stop at Rice-Eccles Stadium with Tickle currently leading the series with 145 points. Hansen is right behind him in second with 143, while Rattray moved into sixth with 96 points.