James Stewart made his return to competition in round eight of the 12-event Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota at the weekend.
Stewart raced his Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing RM-Z450 to a solid 10th-place finish in the first moto. Overall, his 10-35 moto finishes put him 15th.
Stewart was the lone rider for the Yoshimura Suzuki this weekend, as both Blake Baggett and fill-in rider, Matt Bisceglia, are out with injury.
Stewart showed that in spite of his long lay-off from injury, and then awaiting the birth of his son, he still could still tap into the power of the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and click-off a strong lap, which he did in qualifying, clocking a 2:15.635 on the Spring Creek track, good enough for eighth-fastest out of 81 riders.
In the first moto, he fought to gain back his race footing, battled well for positions and ended up 10th.
“I got an OK start and then got passed by a few guys,” Stewart explained. “I kind of settled-in and passed a few more guys and some of them went down and I got 10th. It was pretty solid. With all the stuff going on in my personal life I haven’t been able to ride as much. The second moto I was trying, but almost hit the deck a few times. It got to the point where I pulled out and I was bummed out about that.”
Despite the difficult second moto, Stewart said it felt good to be back competing again and he’s looking forward to gradual gains in the coming rounds.
“I’m happy to be back out here racing,” he said. “I know what I need to do and that’s get more seat-time to be able to race. The track was tough all day, especially in that second moto. I want to thank the team. I’m going to keep pushing here and building-up and I think Washougal should be better for sure.”
The series now moves cross country to the Pacific Northwest next Saturday, July 23rd, for the Washougal National at the scenic Washougal Motocross Park. Live coverage begins at 1:00 pm Eastern-time on www.promotocross.com.
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