James Stewart Out for Aus SX, Still in for Lille (Update)
A press release today from the Yoshimura Suzuki team has announced that James Stewart is pulling out of a scheduled appearance at the Australian Open of Supercross (Aus-Open SX) on November 28, but is oddly still in for this weekend's Bercy-Lille Supercross.
The PR states that James lost three valuable weeks of testing time due to the wrist injury he incurred at the Monster Energy Cup, and needs more time to catch up on work before Anaheim 1. The Aus-Open SX in Sydney has been heavily promoted, as James was scheduled to race against Chad Reed, who is also confirmed for the event.
“We’re all disappointed James won’t be able to race in Australia,” said team manager, Mike Webb, in the Yoshimura Suzuki PR. “We were looking forward for him to get as many gate drops as possible before Anaheim but we just lost three weeks out of our program. We feel the amount of time the trip to Australia would consume would be too much at this point. He has a lot of training and testing of new parts to accomplish before we’re ready for A1 and right now we’re a bit behind. After talking with James about where he's at physically and where we're at testing wise, we’ve decided that it's best to keep him here and continue the program that that we know will have him ready for A1. Obviously James is disappointed in the decision not to race but he understands 100 percent that in order to be ready for A1, this is the best option.”
“I’m bummed for all my fans and sponsors I won’t be able to make it to Australia,” said Stewart. “The best thing about being back racing has been experiencing all the fan support first hand. I was really looking forward to doing that in Australia but I have to look at the big picture and we’re two months from A1 and I need to show up there healthy and prepared. The wrist is fine, at least as good as it can be. It’s just one of those things I can go months or years and its fine, but then that one wrong hit can set it back. I just needed to rest it a bit more before getting back at it. The important thing is I’ll be ready to race come January.”
Here's the full press release:
CHINO, CA – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing has announced today that James Stewart will not attend the Australian Supercross round coming up on November 28th as planned. The multi-time AMA Supercross/Motocross Champion will race the upcoming Bercy-Lille Supercross in France on November 14th and 15th.
Stewart had a strong return to action by winning the Red Bull Straight Rhythm, his first event back, in early October. The following week at the Monster Energy Cup, Stewart suffered a jammed wrist in practice and ended up pulling out of competition after the first main event. After several days of rehab, Stewart went back to testing and training the following week, only to suffer another crash at the test track, jamming the same wrist.
“We’re all disappointed James won’t be able to race in Australia,” said team manager, Mike Webb. “We were looking forward for him to get as many gate drops as possible before Anaheim but we just lost three weeks out of our program. We feel the amount of time the trip to Australia would consume would be too much at this point. He has a lot of training and testing of new parts to accomplish before we’re ready for A1 and right now we’re a bit behind. After talking with James about where he's at physically and where we're at testing wise, we’ve decided that it's best to keep him here and continue the program that that we know will have him ready for A1. Obviously James is disappointed in the decision not to race but he understands 100 percent that in order to be ready for A1, this is the best option.”
“I’m bummed for all my fans and sponsors I won’t be able to make it to Australia,” said Stewart. “The best thing about being back racing has been experiencing all the fan support first hand. I was really looking forward to doing that in Australia but I have to look at the big picture and we’re two months from A1 and I need to show up there healthy and prepared. The wrist is fine, at least as good as it can be. It’s just one of those things I can go months or years and its fine, but then that one wrong hit can set it back. I just needed to rest it a bit more before getting back at it. The important thing is I’ll be ready to race come January.”
Stewart is back in Florida preparing for the Bercy-Lille Supercross and continuing his training for the 2016 AMA/FIM Supercross Championships, which kicks off in Anaheim, CA on January 9, 2016.
[Update]
The organizers for the Australian Open have released a statement regrading the decision of James Stewart pulling out of the November 28-29 event. You can read it below.
“Management of the AUS-X Open are hugely disappointed with James Stewart’s announcement to pull out of the 2015 AUS-X Open event. Stewart was contracted to race both November 28 and 29 events and we are shocked to hear from his management this morning, he is no longer racing. AUS-X Open management will fly to the US this morning to resolve this situation and will continue to update fans attending the event with any progress that is made.”
