Suzuki Hosts 2016 Suzuki T.E.A.M. Day

Suzuki Motor America connects its employees with its race teams at 2016 Suzuki T.E.A.M. Day.

On most days, Suzuki Motor America’s heaquarters in Brea, California, is rather quiet on the outside, but today the color and excitement of its factory-backed racing activities gave the campus a carnival-like atmosphere as Suzuki hosted its 2016 T.E.A.M. Day.

T.E.A.M. Day is an opportunity for Suzuki employees to get connected with the race teams backed by the company. The day includes a company-hosted lunch along with autograph sessions and photo opportunities with the top factory stars, and Suzuki employees are also free to tour the factory race team transporters. There are also raffle prizes and giveaways, and this year’s event featured added entertainment in the form of a “slow race” that pitted the factory stars against one another aboard 2016 Suzuki DR-Z125s.

Today’s event featured appearances by RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen and Broc Tickle, and Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart; Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett did not attend as he just recently underwent surgery to plate the broken collarbone suffered in a crash during Moto Two of last Sunday’s Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship opener at Hangtown. Baggett is questionable for this weekend’s round two at Glen Helen Raceway.

Other attendees included the Motorcycle Superstore Suzuki team of Kyle Cunningham, Jimmy Albertson and Josh Osby, the Mad Racing/Yoshimura Suzuki team of Matt Bisceglia and Luke Clout, and Obermeyer Suzuki’s Mackenzie Tricker of Australia, who contests AMSOIL GNCC rounds as well as the Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX) where she is currently third in the series point standings.

Suzuki Motor America president Tak Hayasaki, who has presided over the company since 2011, was also on hand and having fun.

“This was not my idea, but I like it very much,” Hayasaki said. “We have so many new teams, and we want our employees to understand our activities [in motorsports]. It is fun to have this kind of opportunity.”

Perhaps the highlight of the day came during the slow race when Tickle handily defeated teammate Roczen, who clearly isn’t as proficient at riding slow as he is at riding fast–his performance in the slow race and his 1-1 performance at last weekend’s Hangtown Motocross Classic seem to be ample proof of that.

“This is the first time that anyone has ever asked me to ride slow,” Roczen joked.