Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing 450 class rookie Blake Baggett continued his strong opening to the 2015 AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, for round two of the 12-event series on Saturday.
Baggett raced his Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450 to seventh-place overall with a 7-7 moto finish, moving him up to sole possession of fourth in the series standings.
One of the highlights of the day for Baggett and his Yoshimura Suzuki team was when Baggett qualified second for the event. His lap time of 2:20.387 around the hilly and challenging circuit was just a fraction off fellow Suzuki rider Ken Roczen’s best time of the qualifying session making it a Suzuki one-two that had spirits high around the Yoshimura pits.
But Baggett didn’t get too excited. In spite of his outstanding performance in Timed Qualifying, Baggett sounded cautious after the session, knowing that the track would change dramatically as the day wore on.
“I got gate pick number two,” Baggett said. “We’ll see what we can do. I’m sure they’ll groom the track. It’s a little bit one-lined in some areas, but they’ll groom it up and hopefully it’ll make for some good lines. The track is probably going to stay moist all day and keep getting rougher.”
Baggett’s words proved true as the track got more and more challenging with each lap turned. As the gate dropped for the first moto, Baggett got caught up in traffic in the early going and fell to 10th on the first lap. By now Baggett has established a firm reputation for getting stronger as motos progress and such was the case at Glen Helen. He used the agile handling of his RM-Z450 to find better lines and worked his way up to seventh by the end of the moto.
The storyline was much the same in Moto 2. This time Baggett ran as far back as 12th on the first lap, before finding his rhythm and working his way back to seventh to complete the day at Glen Helen with a 7-7 and seventh overall.
Considering how rough the track was and how it caught out many riders, Baggett left the event feeling he’d accomplished much of what he set out to do in round two and that was to ride solid motos, stay out of trouble and come away healthy and ready to do battle again next weekend when the series moves next Saturday, May 30th, to the True Value Thunder Valley National in Lakewood, Colorado.
“I finished-up round two and it was an OK day,” said Baggett, who is now fourth in the standings, just three points out of third. “Solid – I kept it on two wheels and got a 7-7. I’m definitely going to keep working forward and plugging away. I was a lot closer to the front guys this weekend. I’m going to keep digging deep and we’ll be back next weekend in Colorado.”
Glen Helen 450 Motocross Results:
1. Eli Tomac (1-1)
2. Justin Barcia (2-4)
3. Ryan Dungey (6-2)
4. Ken Roczen – (8-3)
5. Weston Peick (5-6)
6. Chad Reed (4-8)
7. Blake Baggett – (7-7)
8. Christophe Pourcel (9-10)
9. Cole Seely (14-9)
10. Jason Anderson (38-5)
450 Motocross Standings:
1. Eli Tomac, 100
2. Ryan Dungey, 81
3. Weston Peick, 64
4. Blake Baggett, 61
5. Justin Barcia, 58
6. Ken Roczen, 51
7. Jason Anderson, 50
8. Christophe Pourcel, 48
9. Chad Reed, 46
10. Broc Tickle, 43
