BROC TICKLE MANAGES TOP-10 FINISH ON SLICK ANAHEIM TRACK

Teammate Kyle Partridge Caught in Mishap, Misses Main Event

ANAHEIM, Calif. – (Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013) – Slick track conditions couldn’t keep Broc Tickle from scoring a top-10 finish in Saturday night’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series event at Angel Stadium. Tickle finished ninth, his second consecutive top 10.

Tickle transferred to his fifth straight 450SX Main Event with an eighth-place finish in his Heat Race. He had a good start in the 20-lap Main Event and raced in the top 10 the entire distance. He ran as high as sixth and gave up eighth to Ryan Villopoto, the defending series champion, on the final lap.

“A solid run for the No. 20 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki Z450,” said Tickle. “I felt strong. The track was really tricky. The design was pretty basic but it was hard to get a flow going. We’ll take the ninth-place finish. I want more. We’re gaining in rider points and we want to keep moving inside the top 10. We’re going to get better.

“You had to be patient and not push too hard because the track really got slick. Rolling the center of the corners was key. You had to find a good rhythm while still finding speed on the bike to run fast tonight.

“It was all about cleaning your corners up and carrying all your momentum through the corners. That’s what I struggled with a bit and that’s what caused me to pump up a bit in the Main. Around Lap 14 I got a little (arm) pumped up and tried to make it go away and just got tight. I just didn’t get loose late in the race. We’ll keep plugging away. I want more. I don’t want ninth or 10th. I want top fives and podiums.”

One of the areas Tickle and his team have targeted for improvement this season has been starts.

“It was better,” said Tickle. “We’ve been working really hard at it and tonight we saw some results. My Heat Race start wasn’t too good, but I broke great in the Main. On a track like we had tonight, breaking from the gate was really big.

“Everybody was fast tonight. We kept plugging away at it. We just need to keep working on the little things during the week and try to apply it on Saturday.”

For Kyle Partridge, filling in for injured Josh Hill on the second Suzuki RM-Z450 from RCH Racing, the night was an exercise in frustration. He finished 18th in his Heat Race which tossed him into the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) in quest of one of the final two transfer spots.

Transferring to the feature wasn’t meant to be. Partridge was sidelined by an accident on the first lap of the six-lap LCQ dash. He was running third when a rider braked in front of him after the first whoop section.

“I started all the way on the outside in the LCQ but came out of the gate with just a gnarly start,” said Partridge. “I got a great start considering where I started and just got put down right after the whoop section. Two guys got together in front of me and just smashed right into my face and arm and hand, which took me off the bike. There wasn’t really anything that I could do.

“I feel like the stuff that we worked on this week really showed today. I was relaxed at the gate and made sure that when the board goes sideways at the gate that I give myself a few seconds to relax and just get my composure. I did that and I felt that my starts were better. We just didn’t have that great of a starting spot at the gate and got caught up into some guys trying to power through Turn 1. We certainly made progress.”

Ryan Dungey won the Main Event, his first victory of the 2013 season. Rounding out the podium finishers were David Millsaps (second-place) and Justin Barcia (third-place). Millsaps has a 14-point advantage over Dungey in the 450SX season standings. Tickle is 12th, one point out of 10th.

The next stop on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series schedule is Saturday, Feb. 9 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.