Cycle News

SUPERCROSS ROUND 12 / APRIL 2, 2016 LEVI'S STADIUM / SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA P88 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES My Own Race: 12 JAKE WEIMER 9 TH 450SX RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John's Suzuki rider Jake Weimer was pleased with his ninth-place at Santa Clara. Weimer has been nursing a shoulder as of late, so break- ing into the top 10 was an accomplish- ment. "Overall, to end the night with a top 10 is a positive, especially with the last couple of weeks that I've had," Weimer said. "I've been dealing with my shoulder and there was the ques- tion if I'd be able to show up in Santa Clara and race. It was good to have the break when we did but it was hectic with everything that was going on. I didn't have the best day in practice but I'm happy to be able to come out of here with a top 10. I'm just going to keep working." 4 BLAKE BAGGETT 10 TH 450SX Blake Baggett flew under the radar all day and night. He was 11th in qualifying, transferred to the main via a third-place finish in a semi and was held up in the first turn of the main, completing the first lap in 14th. He a few passes to finish out the night in 10th, his best finish of the year. "We broke into the top 10," said Baggett who is still getting back up to speed from a pre-season shoulder injury. "It's taken awhile, but with the injury and making bike changes, try- ing to get more comfortable, we started halfway through the season and we're coming along. So a top 10 tonight and we're going to keep looking forward." 33 JOSH GRANT 12 TH 450SX Josh Grant, now fully at home on the Monster Energy Ka- wasaki Team, had an up-and-down night. He was 10th in qualifying, had to make his transfer through a semi, which he won, and spent all of the main event making up for mistakes early in the race. "This weekend was good and I felt like I brought a different intensity," said Grant. "I felt comfortable on the bike due to some changes made at the test track over the week and it paid off. I won semi two, which felt great, and I'm happy with the way I rode. In the main event I crossed bars with another rider and made a mistake before the first four laps were over. I came back to finish 12th and felt a lot more comfortable in the middle and later laps in the race. The track was very technical and difficult, so I'm happy that I was able to come from behind to finish where I did." 7 JAMES STEWART DNF 450SX Yoshimura Suzuki's James Stewart re- turned to action at Santa Clara. It was his first race since injury his back at the Daytona Supercross in early March. He admitted before the race that he wasn't quite 100-percent yet but was at least ready to race. He qualified seventh, finished second in his heat race after battling with Dungey but pulled out of the main with a mechanical problem before he could even break a sweat. "I was feeling a lot better since Daytona," Stewart said. "The day went pretty good. We made some fairly significant changes to the bike over the break and I was just happy to be back riding. Every practice kind of got better and better, which was good, I was starting to find some speed. I got in the heat race, was feeling pretty de- cent and finished second. They dropped the gate pretty quick in the main and I got a bad start and was way back. But then I was doing pretty good, started making my way through people. I was coming through the pack, feeling really good, probably the best since 2014 and that was nice. And then we started to have some sort of issue with the bike. It just started cutting out, so who knows? It's no one's fault. I'm definitely bummed, but at the same time I was riding good, so we can definitely take some momen- tum off this. We made some great steps and we're going to keep making them and get closer."

• Cover