The highly-anticipated return of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship to the Wick 338, in Southwick, Massachusetts did not go according to plan for Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing at the weekend.
Although Blake Baggett was able to pilot his RM-Z to a solid eighth in qualifying and fill-in rider, Matt Bisceglia led the first laps of the consolation race, their day ended early after tumbles sidelined both riders.
Baggett crashed in timed qualifying and again in the first moto, tweaking the shoulder he injured early in the season. He struggled to a 24th-place finish in the first moto and elected not to start the second.
Bisceglia fell hard while leading the consolation race by a large margin. After a trip to the local hospital he learned that he had sustained fractured ribs and a partially-collapsed lung from the incident.
For Baggett, the return to Southwick began with a hard get-off in the second practice session. In spite of the fall he’d been able to push his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to a time of 2:04.948, good enough for a solid eighth in timed qualifying.
“I had the big crash in practice number two and dodged a bullet,” Baggett explained. “It was one of the biggest ones I’ve had. I just made a little mistake and over-jumped the tabletop and had a big get-off at the bottom.
“I got 24th in the first moto. I went down in the first turn and the shoulder was just too weak and I decided to call it quits for today. It’s definitely not what I’d hoped for. I hated pulling out and not fighting to the end, but I think it was our best option.”
Bisceglia had a tough time in qualifying, but seemed to get things turned around in the 450 Consolation Race, where he sprinted-off to an early lead aboard his Suzuki RM-Z450. He was well on his way to qualifying for the national, when he too was unlucky and went down.
“Matt worked his way to the front and had about a five-second lead,” explained Yoshimura Suzuki team manager Mike Webb. “He scrubbed a roller and his foot dragged across the top of the jump and kind-of pulled him off the bike. Unfortunately, he went down pretty hard.”
The Yoshimura Suzuki squad now heads to Millville, Minnesota and the Spring Creek National this coming Saturday.
