Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing celebrated the ‘July 4th Weekend Classic’ in America with Blake Baggett and stand-in rider Matt Bisceglia placing in the top-10 in the 2016 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship RedBud National on Saturday.
Baggett took home a strong sixth-place with a 7-5 moto finish on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450, while Bisceglia wasn’t far behind, turning-in an excellent 8-8 to finish eighth overall. RedBud marked the half-way point of the series and the best result of the season for both riders.
Baggett came through timed qualifying one of the 10 riders able to clock a sub-two-minute lap around the challenging Michigan track. Baggett’s time of 1:59.662 placed him eighth on the gate, while Bisceglia turned in a time of 2:01.428 to start 16th.
Baggett emerged around 10th at the start of both 450 motos, but he was able to use the power and control of his RM-Z450 to move up to seventh in moto one. He was even stronger in the second moto working all the way up to fifth by the checkered flag.
“We had a good weekend,” said an upbeat Baggett. “We made some bike changes and it definitely made it better for the second moto and my RM-Z felt pretty good. It was a solid race for my second weekend back.” From his 16th-place starting gate, Bisceglia got great jumps out of the gate in both motos, making his path to eighth in both motos much easier.
“It was awesome day out here at RedBud,” Bisceglia said. “I got two decent starts, but I definitely had to fight for both of those finishes. My Yoshimura Suzuki was working great out there. It was a really gnarly track and the bike was working awesome. I had a really good pace going in that second moto. I was in fifth place until about half-way. It was not only a good day for me, but for Blake and the team as well.”
Even though Baggett and Bisceglia have both raced only a limited schedule this season, Baggett’s strong outing at RedBud has already moved him up to 14th in the series standings at mid-season. Bisceglia, in his fill-in roll for Yoshimura Suzuki, is ranked 17th.
Yoshimura Suzuki and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will kick off the second half of the 2016 season next weekend with its anticipated return to New England. For the first time since the 2013 season ‘The Wick 338’ in Southwick, Massachusetts, will host the 36th running of the Red Bull Southwick National.
