The following is from the RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing team of Ken Roczen and Broc Tickle:
CHINO, Calif. (July 21, 2016) – Broc Tickle, rider of the number 20 Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450 for RCH Racing, sustained an injury in last Saturday’s La Crescent Wine and Spirit Spring Creek National and will miss the final four races of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Tickle was collected in an incident of another rider’s making as the two were racing for position, just past the halfway mark of last weekend’s first 450cc class moto in Millville, Minnesota. As a result, neither rider was able to finish the first moto or return for the second. Tickle was examined on Tuesday and diagnosed with a fractured pelvis, forcing the veteran rider to sit out the last third of the outdoor season.
The former Cary, North Carolina, resident was off to his best premier class start since 2012 having notched nine straight top-10 moto finishes, including back-to-back overall podiums at Muddy Creek and RedBud. Between Rounds 5-6, Tickle gained a handsome seven spots in the championship where he sat just 10 points out of fourth prior to last weekend.
“It was an unfortunate racing incident between me and Weston Peick,” Tickle said. “Obviously, it’s a bummer but all I can do is keep weight off my pelvis for the next four to six weeks and get better as soon as I can. At this point, I just have to look ahead, work hard over the off season and be ready for Supercross in January. I’m going to try and capitalize on the downtime now to get stuff cleared out for 2017. I’m really grateful to Carey (Hart) and Ricky (Carmichael) and everyone at RCH for a great season. It didn’t turn out like we were hoping, but we turned the corner and there were a lot of positives. I really appreciate everyone at Soaring Eagle, Jimmy John’s and Suzuki for their support, and I couldn’t have done it without my personal sponsors Answer, Arai, TCX, EKS BRAND and of course, Dr. G.”
As a seven-time Lucas Oil Pro Motocross premier class champion, RCH co-owner Ricky Carmichael is very familiar with the occupational hazards associated with the profession. Carmichael was sidelined for the entire 2004 Supercross season with a knee injury.
“I feel bad for Broc because he’s really had a great outdoor season,” Carmichael said. “I hate to see this stuff happen. This particular incident is really a bummer because it wasn’t his fault. He was just a victim of circumstance, and in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s one of those tough pills to swallow that sometimes comes with the job. He’ll be back on the bike when he feels 100 percent and ready to go. He doesn’t have anything to hang his head about. The injury is just a minor setback when you look at all the good that’s come out of the first six races. I’m really happy with how Broc performed this summer and with everything the team accomplished.”
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