The RCH Soaring Eagle Jimmy John’s Suzuki Factory Racing looks for a strong finish to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
New Berlin, New York’s legendary Unadilla Motorsports Complex plays host to this weekend’s race, round 10 of the Lucas Oil series, and both Roczen and Tickle plan to make up for lost ground by closing out their respective seasons with moto wins, according to the team.
Roczen, the defending Lucas Oil 450cc Pro Motocross Champion, is currently tied with Justin Barcia for second in points. Both rider trail Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey by 69 points, and both men are far from out of contention for the title should Dungey run into a case of bad luck. That seems unrealistic in light of Dungey’s consistency, but the 21-year-old Roczen doesn’t want to relinquish his title without putting up a valiant fight over the final three rounds of the season. That fight starts at Unadilla.
“We’re getting closer,” Roczen said. “We’ve spent a lot of time testing and working on the bike, looking for the right combination. That’s what we do. We race and try to get better every week. It was nice to have the time off. I spent some time with my family and that always motivates me to work hard and do better. Washougal was obviously a little bit of a struggle. It was for everyone so we’re not going to make excuses. We need to bounce back this weekend and start winning races. The championship may be a little bit out of reach but no one on this team is lying down. We’re going to finish out the year strong and try our hardest to be on the very top of the podium.”
Much like Round 9 at Washougal and Spring Creek the week prior, Unadilla is track where Roczen has yet to achieve a win, although he has collected a pair of podium finishes in his three previous starts there. In fact, in six motos, including starts in both the 250cc and 450cc classes, the 2011 MX2 World Champion has one moto win and a 3.3 average overall finish.
Tickle has also enjoyed moderate success at Unadilla. In six total starts he has logged a 12.5 overall finish, but he showed his potential during his first season aboard a 450 when he put together an impressive 2-4 showing to finish second overall there in 2012. Since then, he has suffered some well-documented injuries that have hampered his progression in the 450cc ranks. In 2015, he heads into Unadilla healthy and with a renewed sense of optimism and urgency to finish the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship strong.
“I’m feeling great after the break” Tickle said. “I’m motivated to get back to where I belong. I’m working hard to get the starts I need to finish where we deserve. I’m healthy. I’m motivated and ready to head to Unadilla and redeem myself.”
The first moto of the Red Bull Unadilla National will be televised live on MAVTV Sat., August 8 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10 a.m. Pacific. Live coverage for the second moto will shift to network television on NBC at 4 p.m. EDT. All motos can be streamed live online through ProMotocross.com or the NBC Sports Live Extra app. NBC, NBCSN and MAVTV will combine to televise over 60 hours of racing over the course of the 12-round season.
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