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Dodge/RCH Racing Race Advance - Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series - Round 4 - Oakland
DODGE/RCH RACING NEWS
· Broc Tickle scored a season-best finish of 11th at Anaheim last week, the third stop in the 17-race Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. Tickle has advanced to the 20-lap Main Event at all three events this season. His most recent top-10 finish came last year at Salt Lake City where he posted a sixth-place finish.
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· Josh Hill is scheduled to return to the RCH Racing lineup this week after suffering a concussion and hand injury in the season opener in Anaheim. Hill was injured in practice and was unable to compete in his scheduled Heat Race for precautionary reasons. He will be seeking his first Main Event appearance this season.
· Broc Tickle finished 13th last year in his only SX start in Oakland. Josh Hill will be making his first start at the O.co Coliseum.
· SRT Motorsports/Dodge will have an at-track presence inside the RCH Racing paddock at all 17 AMA Supercross events this year.
· Ricky Carmichael and Carey Hart have joined forces to form RCH Racing which is competing in the AMA Supercross Series this season with direct Suzuki factory support and a technical alliance for research and development from Yoshimura.
FAST FACTS: OAKLAND
· There have been three different winners in the SX 450 Class this year – David Millsaps, Justin Barcia and Ryan Villopoto. Only twice has the class had four different winners.
· CBS will televise this weekend’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series event at Oakland on Sunday, Jan. 27 (taped-delayed) at noon (ET).
· O.co Coliseum is home for the Oakland Athletics.
BROC TICKLE
No. 20 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450
Birthdate: 11/21/1989
Hometown: Holly, Mich. Mechanic: Tony Berluti
Highlights
· First season riding the No. 20 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450.
· Finished eighth in 2012 SX rider standings with nine top-10 finishes in 16 starts.
· 2011 AMA Supercross Series Lites West champion.
JOSH HILL
No.75 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450
Birthdate: 07/30/1989
Hometown: Clackamas, Ore. Mechanic: Shawn Bell
Highlights
· Returns for his second season aboard the No. 75 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450.
· Has one career SX win (Minneapolis – 2008).
· Career best sixth-place finish in 2010 SX point standings.
RCH QUOTES
BROC TICKLE (No. 20 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki Z450)
YOU HAD NINE TOP-10 FINISHES LAST YEAR. DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR READY TO KICK THE DOOR DOWN ON A STRING OF TOP 10’S? “For sure. From the first race to last week at Anaheim 2, I’ve felt like I’m fast enough to be inside the top 10 every week. It’s all about the start and putting myself in a good position to ride up front and not have to come from behind every week. I just need to put my 20 laps in at a good pace and ride. It’s hard to get around guys that are riding at a different pace than the leaders. If you get trapped behind slower riders, it puts you at a huge disadvantage. The goal this weekend is to be up front and get with the riders that are setting the race pace. I’m really looking forward to this weekend because Oakland was the site of my second Supercross Lites race win. That’s exciting for me. I’m really looking forward to racing Oakland again because I love the dirt there. It may rain. It rained the time that I won in Oakland. I like to ride in the rain and mud. I love the ruts.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY SECRETS YOU CAN REVEAL ABOUT RIDING A 450-CLASS SUZUKI WITH BROKEN BOOT BUCKLES (THE BUCKLES WERE BROKEN DURING CONTACT WITH ANOTHER RIDER AT THE START OF LAST WEEKEND’S MAIN EVENT AT ANAHEIM)? (Laughs) “Man, it was crazy. I broke from the gate and got hit going into the first turn. It was nuts. You have to deal with it. I’m just not going to pull off the track. I’m not that kind of rider. I tried to make the best of it.”
WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU LOOK DOWN AND YOUR BOOT BUCKLES WERE BUSTED. “I looked down and said, ‘Man, my boot buckles are busted.’ I went over the first triple, looked down and saw two buckles were busted. My foot was sliding all over the place. When I got to the pits after the race, all the buckles were off. It was nuts. I guess I need to get better starts and stay away from the carnage (laughs)!”
THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THE RACES APPEARS TO BE YOUR STRONGEST; IS GETTING INTO AN EARLY RHYTHM A KEY FOR YOU THIS WEEK? “Oh yeah. I need to be inside the top 10 after the gate drops. I can’t get stuck in a guy’s pace who is slower like the last few weekends. I haven’t rode inside the top 10 on the first lap this year. That’s a goal for this weekend. I feel like once the race settles in, we have one of the fastest bikes out there. I’ve been riding well at the track during the week; I just need to translate that to Saturdays.”
WHAT WILL BE THE FOCUS OF TESTING THIS WEEK? “I only rode on Monday. We did some tire testing with Dunlop, testing some tire combinations. I tried some front and rear tire combos and that will help. With that in our bag, we won’t have to work on a lot of setups at the track on Saturday. We’ll also work on race starts again.”
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE THAT RICKY (CARMICHAEL) HAS GIVEN YOU THIS YEAR? “Rolling the middle of my corners. A lot of the riders have the habit of coming into a turn too fast, stop in the middle and then go. On 450s, it’s crucial to have a rolling corner. If you watch (Ryan) Villopoto or the guys that have been atop the podium, that’s what they do. I think that’s what is going to help me the rest of the year. It’s not like we don’t go out and practice it. I do it during the week in testing. For us, we have the puzzle pieces; we just need to put them all together.”
RICKY CARMICHAEL (Owner, RCH Racing)
BROC (TICKLE) CONTINUES TO MAKE STRIDES TOWARDS TOP-10 FINISHES. HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE HIS PROGRESS SO FAR THIS SEASON? “Broc’s (Tickle) making gains every week and that’s a great sign. He’s fast. We’ve made three-consecutive Main Events. Last week in Anaheim, we were focusing on being faster in the second practice session and we were. He posted his best time in the second practice, which he hasn’t done all year. And in his Heat Race, he almost got the holeshot which has been a point of emphasis for us all year. The Heat Race is a prelude to the Main and all the top guys are in it. We rode ninth in the Heat and all the heavy hitters were in his Heat. I was proud of his starts and that’s a good sign. In a nutshell, I feel like we have all the pieces to the puzzle, we just haven’t been able to put them all together. We just haven’t put it all together in the Main. Look at last weekend in Anaheim. Broc had a great start, was riding with (James) Stewart and on his second lap got hit and busted his boot buckles off. So basically his boot wasn’t latched and it was almost coming off. He actually thought about pulling off the track but kept on riding. He said his foot was halfway out of his boot most of the time. It looked a little weird because Broc was way off his practice times and I was wondering why. It was kind of frustrating. But at the same time, we made a lot of progress with our overall speed on the Suzuki. Broc had a great start in the Heat Race. There isn’t anything you can do about somebody running into you and ripping off your boot buckles.
“The one thing I did notice from the weekend is that the guys are slowing starting to sort themselves out. Some guys are having some issues. Things will start to thin out and you’ll start to see everyone’s true potential. Everybody rides on a lot of emotion and adrenaline the first few weeks. Let’s see where they are at week 4, 5 or 6. By the time that we get to the halfway point the series will lose a couple of riders and you’ll really start to see the contenders from pretenders. If you’re in it for the long haul, that’s when you start to see the true strength of guys.
THE GOOD THING FOR BROC IS THAT HE’S FINDING SPEED IN THE BIKE EVERY WEEK: “Absolutely. For sure. It’s all about racing. The hard part is that if you show up to the racetrack and you’re two or three-seconds off, speed is extremely hard to find. We just need to work with the racetrack part of it. I’d rather have my riders try to work on race craft, making better decisions and putting them in better spots versus trying to go out there and find an extra two-seconds. That’s going to be hard to do and most of the time that you do that, you’re going to find yourself lying on the ground. I really believe that we almost have all the pieces of the puzzle with our Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki Z450’s, we just haven’t put it all together in the Main yet.”
JOSH (HILL) IS HOPING TO GET THE GREEN LIGHT TO RACE THIS WEEK. WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE YOU RIDER WHO HAS HAD ISSUES STAYING HEALTHY? “I’m really hoping that Josh can get out and race this weekend. He’s got a really upbeat attitude. The biggest thing for Josh is that there are no expectations except for him to finish. It sounds simple. I really believe that Josh’s biggest challenge is to make it through three or four races. Once he can do that, I think that everyone will see how fast and talented his is. He’s fast. He works really hard on the test track and mentally, he’s strong. Things just haven’t gone his way for whatever reason and he’s gotten hurt. It’s all mental for him right now. He has the mental strength at the practice track. He just needs to get three or four races under his belt and that guy will start choppin’ wood. I really believe that. My advice to him has been to go out there with no expectations. Put yourself in good positions, think ahead and ride.”
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST AREA OF FOCUS FOR THE TEAM THIS WEEKEND IN OAKLAND?
“When you go to Oakland, there are a few things that always come into play. The weather is always sketchy. It’s an open stadium and it rains a lot in the Bay area. I was talking to Broc and he’s excited because he hopes it does rain. It can get a little rutty there and the conditions can be tougher. Broc is excited to hopefully have Josh back which will take some pressure off Broc. Oakland is always a wildcard of sorts – the weather, the track, and the conditions. You have to be prepared for everything up there.”
PaddockTalk Perspective
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