Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing Team Report: San Diego Supercross
Justin
Hill caps off a perfect day with 250 Supercross win
(Press release) Huntersville, NC (February 12, 2018) - The
Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki
Factory Racing Team had a monumental day at San Diego's Petco Park
for round six of the 2018 AMA Supercross series. Suzuki RM-Z250
rider Justin Hill was the class of the field. Hill logged the
fastest lap time in qualifying, won his heat race, and meticulously
picked apart the competition in winning the 250 main event in front
of 41,237 fans. Hill's 250 teammate, Phil Nicoletti, came from last
place to just outside the top ten.
RM-Z450 rider Weston Peick fought his way up to seventh after a
first-turn crash.
Hill rode with speed and confidence from the very first lap of
practice, jumping rhythm sections on his
RM-Z250 that only a few of the 450 riders were clearing. The
reigning champion clicked off the fastest 250 qualifying lap and
used the first gate choice in his heat race to clear the field and
win in convincing fashion. The Oregon native started the main event
in third place and methodically paced leader Adam Cianciarulo for
11 laps. Hill passed for the lead and stormed away for the win. He
is only 12 points out of third place in the standings.
Teammate Nicoletti
suffered a crash early in the 250 main event, but fought up to 11th
place. The New York native sits 13th in the standings.
In the 450 class, Peick suffered misfortune when another rider fell
in the first turn. That incident didn't prevent Peick from slicing
his way through the field and collecting 7th place. He's only eight
points out of third place in the standings.
Malcolm Stewart returned for another run at the podium with the
Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing Team. Unfortunately,
Stewart was collected up in the same first turn crash that took
down Peick. "Mookie" ended the night in 17th.
Justin Bogle was looking to improve in his third race back, but a
crash in his heat race knocked him out of action. Initial injury
reports is a broken upper arm, an updated status will be released
when available.
Justin Hill [250 Class, First Place] - "Perfect days don't come
very often, so I'm basking in the goodness of going 1-1-1...fastest
qualifier, heat win and main event win. Everything was clicking
with the team and my RM-Z250. I was ripping the whoops and rhythms
in practice, doing what I needed to do to get the top qualifying
time. We watched film after practice and decided to leave the bike
alone, because it was working really well."
"My strategy in the main event was to calculate everything around
me. At one point I thought I could trail him [Adam Cianciarulo] and
execute a wham-bam pass towards the end. Then I realized there were
some people behind us that were riding well, and if we tangled it
could jeopardize the win. I started increasing my intensity and
pressing harder. I knew I had the speed. For the most part I was
trying to be calm about picking up the pace and not do anything
rash. I had good runs through the whoops and knew where I could
gain. The pass was made before the whoops so I could pull away in
the sand section. I had a couple ideas on accident avoidance in
order to stay ahead. Once I got a small gap I tried to get back
into a zone click away good laps."
Weston
Peick [450 Class, Seventh Place] - "San Diego was a bummer, plain
and simple. I was feeling well all day. I was the sixth-fastest
rider in practice, which was better than where I have typically
been qualifying. I got off to a decent start in the heat race, made
a few bobbles, and worked my way up to third. I was feeling solid
in the main event. I probably would have come out of the first turn
in the top five, but [Ken] Roczen went down and I fell. The bike
got stuck on top of me. I got back going and riding really well,
passing from 17th up to seventh place. I would have liked to pass
[Justin] Brayton and [Broc] Tickle, but I'm happy with the progress
I'm making. The Suzuki RM-Z450 is working really well."
Phil Nicoletti [250 Class, 11th Place] - "I finally rode well, even
though the result doesn't show it. The bike handled awesome through
the whoops. I felt strong, despite being banged up from the
previous race. I had a brain fart on the second lap of the main
event and tucked the front end in the sand. I tried to put in clean
laps after the crash and worked up to 11th place. My entire body
hurts, so it will be nice to take a week off now that the 250 West
series takes a break. I'm going to head back to North Carolina and
spend my time there training and riding."
Jeremy Albrecht [Team Manager] -"It was a race filled with highs
and lows. The obvious highs being Hill showing the capabilities of
the Suzuki RM-Z250 and winning the 250 main event. Peick again
showed a lot of promise. If it wasn't for the first turn crash I
really think he could have been in one of those front spots.
Unfortunately, Bogle was landed on by another rider in his heat
race when he failed to jump the triple. It was a pretty bad crash
that left him with a broken upper arm. He was obviously in a lot of
pain afterward. I feel bad that it happened, because Justin was
starting to find his groove. Stewart was feeling under the weather
all weekend. Despite that, he fought hard and looked to have a good
finish in the bag until he crashed and fell back to 17th. Nicoletti
was in a great spot on the opening laps of the 250 main, but he
lost the front end and went down. I'm looking forward to building
on our results at the next round."
The Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory
Racing Team will travel to Arlington, Texas for round seven of the
2018 Supercross series on Saturday, February 17th. Arlington will
also mark the first round of the 250 East Supercross series,
featuring RM-Z250 riders Jimmy Decotis and Kyle Peters
