BROC TICKLE SURGING IN SX POINTS AS SERIES RETURNS TO ANAHEIM
January 31, 2013
AUBURN HILLS, MI. (January 31, 2013) - Broc Tickle has long forgotten his season-opening 18th-place finish at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. aboard his No. 20 Dodge/Sycuan/Suzuki RM-Z450, and for good reason. The first-year RCH Racing rider is coming off a season best eighth-place finish last weekend in Oakland and has put together three-consecutive finishes inside the top 12.
“I’ve felt that we’re making progress every week that we go to the track with our Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki Z450,” said Tickle. “I feel like we’ve been making big strides during the week in practice, understanding what I like with the Suzuki and making gains on setups. I’m really just focusing on staying comfortable on the bike, having fun and ride.”
Tickle is currently 13th in the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series rider point standings, just four markers out of 10th. He has gained five positions in the standings in the last three races and gives much of the credit for his recent surge in the 450-SX Class to the growing confidence he has in his lead mechanic Tony Berluti.
“Tony goes off what I’m feeling and we’ve been able to make some great changes to the bike,” he added. “Our communication is great. If I think that we need to go a certain direction, he’s all for it. Working with him has been easy and we really are starting to understand what I like on the bike. I’ll give Tony my input, he’ll give me his and we’ll make the best decision we can.”
The Tickle-Berluti duo has leveraged Yoshimura technology in practice sessions and recently tested Dunlop tires to build a race portfolio that is able to adapt to fast, slick conditions expected this weekend as the series returns to Angel Stadium for the third time this season.
“This weekend, I think that the dirt will be even harder than it was for the first two races in Anaheim,” Tickle added. “We have a tire setup ready to go, anticipating how the conditions will be on Saturday. I was nervous to try some tires early in the season because I hadn’t really run them before. We’ve been testing and right after A-2 we had a Dunlop day at the track and found a setup that I like when the track is hard and slippery.”
Teammate Josh Hill (No. 75 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450) remains sidelined for another week recovering from a fractured right-hand he suffered at the season opener at Anaheim. He is scheduled to return to the RCH Racing lineup next week in San Diego. In his absence, RCH Racing has agreed with Kyle Partridge to ride the No. 85 Dodge/Sycuan Casino/RCH Racing/Bel-Ray/Suzuki RM-Z450 this weekend. Ironically, Partridge flew the RCH colors for nine races last season and earned seven Main Event starts.
“When the opportunity presented itself there was no way that I was going to pass it up,” said Partridge. “To have the chance to run a factory bike is exciting. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity. I'm grateful that RCH considered me and look forward to riding the bike on Saturday.
“I’ve been on the bike for three days. We're going to do some riding today to work on starts and get more comfortable on the bike. The biggest difference I notice from riding is that this bike feels so much more solid. It’s super tight. The motor package is gnarly. They're fast.”
SPEED’s coverage of Round 5 will be live beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.
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