JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Racing Manages Injured Rider Through Triple Crown Format
Brea, CA (January 27, 2020) – JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Racing’s Alex Martin weathered a Triple Crown event in Glendale, Arizona this weekend with three consistent top-ten main event finishes. After a mid-week crash during practice jeopardized his standing in the championship points, Martin fought hard with strong starts and time leading the pack on his JGR-tuned Suzuki RM-Z250 to grab seventh overall. A-Mart heads to Oakland next weekend still solidly in the top-five in the season point standings.
The high-speed layout and long whoop section inside State Farm Stadium was tough on Martin, still sore from a crash during testing that left him with a swollen leg. Martin was happy to have his RM-Z250 make things easier by keeping him near the front. A-Mart started things off with a near holeshot and some time in the lead in the first main event. Consistency, strong starts, and fighting for every spot in each main event netted Martin an 8-8-9 score to take home a credible seventh place considering his physical condition.
“Glendale was a tough race for me. A mid-week crash really hurt my chances of being competitive for a podium,” said Martin. “I managed to stay consistent enough to grab seventh overall in the Triple Crown format. I’m happy to move on from this one and I’m looking toward making some changes this week with the team. We’ll come out swinging in Oakland.”
“It was great to see Alex getting good starts and pushing through his best after crashing hard on Wednesday in practice. It’s all part of racing and we’re happy to see improvements each week even being banged up,” said Jeremy Albrecht, Team Manager. “Alex is coming to our test facility this week to improve his whoop speed and test some new parts. I believe in Alex and our team to get up on the box soon. Alex busted out the quad in the race, something not many 250 riders were able to do. He tried his best, but he struggled in right hand turns due to his sore leg. Next week he will be in better shape and I expect better results.”
Unfortunately, there was no JGR team rider on the Suzuki RM-Z450 at the Glendale round. Fredrik Noren continues to recover from injury while Jimmy Decotis is focusing on the first round of the 250 East region that kicks off in Tampa in three weeks. Jimmy D has podiumed each of the past two years and looks forward to stretching that record and adding some wins this year.
Next weekend the team heads north to RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California for round five of the West Coast rounds.
