Yoshimura Suzuki Race Report: Phoenix

PHOENIX, AZ – Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s Brett Metcalfe celebrated his first top-10 finish of the 2012 AMA/FIM Supercross season Saturday night at round two of the series at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. In front of almost 50,000 screaming Supercross fans, Metcalfe put in an aggressive ride on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and carded a solid ninth-place result.

Consistency was the key to the Aussi rider’s night. Although a bit under the weather, Metcalfe put up a good fight all night long. In his eight-lap heat race, he got a great start on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and brought home a sixth-place finish to advance to the Supercross main. In the 20-lap main event, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider again got an excellent start and battled with the front-runners for the first half of the race. In the end, Metcalfe stayed strong and kept his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 in the top 10 when the checkers flew.

“We had a really good week leading up to Phoenix,” said Metcalfe. “I came in a little more confident. In qualifying, I got an awesome start – the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 just flew down the straightaway. I came through the heat race and ended up sixth… but I knew I had to step it up if I wanted to get a top-10 finish in the main. The Yoshimura Suzuki is getting rippin’ starts, and that’s a huge positive for my game right now. In the main event I tried as hard as I could; about halfway, I started getting passed but I tried to hang tough and hold down a top-10. I was a little under the weather this weekend and it was a tough 20 laps for me, but I managed to get through. This was a much more positive direction for us, and I’m looking forward to having another solid week on the bike and moving up in the field.”

Next weekend, the Yoshimura Suzuki team will revisit Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium for only the second time ever. And since last year was also Metcalfe’s first season racing in the Supercross class, his experience at the renowned venue was a memorable one.

“Dodger stadium was awesome last year,” said Metcalfe. “The crowd was really cool and just being in that stadium was pretty spectacular. I got the holeshot and led two laps, but then I fell. But that’s still a good memory to feed off of, and I’ll try to duplicate that again – but stay up and not crash this time, and finish off the race. Now, we’ve got to keep grinding it out and progressing, and stay positive.”

Team Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s next event is the third round of the 2012 AMA/FIM Supercross Championship on Saturday, January 21st, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. You can meet Team Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s Brett Metcalfe on Friday, January 20th from 6 to 8 PM at Del Amo Motorsports, 2500 Marine Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA 90278.

Phoenix Supercross Class Results:

1.  Ryan Dungey

2.  Jake Weimer

3.  Ryan Villopoto

4.  Kevin Windham

5.  Chad Reed

6.  Andrew Short

7.  Trey Canard

8.  James Stewart

9.  Brett Metcalfe

10. Josh Hansen

 

2012 Supercross Class Standings:

1.  Ryan Dungey – 45

2.  Ryan Villopoto – 45

3.  Chad Reed – 38

4.  Jake Weimer – 38

5.  Kevin Windham – 31

6.  Andrew Short – 29

7.  James Stewart – 28

8.  Justin Brayton – 25

9.  Josh Hansen – 22

10. Brett Metcalfe – 22