Suzuki’s Alex Martin Solidifies Top-Five Position in Points Heading into 250 West Break
The JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Racing Rider Maintains His Standing Through a Tough Night
JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Racing's Alex Martin's 12-point cushion was large enough to maintain his strong top-five position in the championship standings after his most challenging race of the 2020 Supercross season in San Diego this weekend. Building on newfound speed in the whoops from a recent bike set-up and training week with the JGR team at its North Carolina headquarters, A-Mart was fast on his Suzuki RM-Z250 through the San Diego track's two whoop sections. Even in spite of a late-race collision with a lapped rider, Martin was able to salvage a top-ten finish in the main event.
Martin showed great speed in practice and was feeling ready to repeat last weekend's main event holeshot and grab a podium in the competitive 250 West class, but an unfortunate launch off the starting gate put A-Mart into an uphill battle during the night's action. He put in strong laps and was on the move, up to sixth place at the mid-point of the race, but unfortunately tangled with another rider. Losing nearly 20 seconds in the incident, Alex recovered to finish inside the top-ten.
"San Diego was very up and down. I had some positive moments in practice, but I also had some pretty big crashes," said Martin. "The main event was going decently as we were near the top-five, but towards the end a lapper cross-jumped me, taking me out. I was able to salvage a top-ten. I'm looking to take advantage of this six-week break then capitalize on the last four rounds."
"The San Diego round was a cool opportunity to honor the military and run some special graphics with a NAVY theme," added Jeremy Albrecht, Team Manager. "Alex had speed in the whoops this weekend but had some crashes that made it tough. Alex still has more races after the break to get the JGR Suzuki on the podium."
The Supercross series heads to the east coast for round seven at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The move marks a six week break for the 250 West riders and the start of the 250 East coast series. JGR-rider Jimmy Decotis, who used the first three 2020 rounds to warm up on a Suzuki RM-Z450, is ready to put his JGR-tuned RM-Z250 on the podium in 250 East racing.
Images Courtesy of Brown Dog Wilson
About Suzuki: Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (SMAI) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Outboard Motors and Automotive Parts and Accessories via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.
About JGRMX: Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross (JGRMX), based in Huntersville, NC, was founded in 2007 by Coy Gibbs, son of NFL Hall of Fame head coach and multi-time NASCAR Championship winning team owner Joe Gibbs. JGRMX competes in both the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series as well as the Monster Energy Supercross series with support from Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. aboard Suzuki RM-Z250 and RM-Z450 race machines.
About Yoshimura R&D of America: Yoshimura is “The Leader in Performance” and has been for 65 years. With unmatched skills, knowledge, and passion for racing, Yoshimura is on the forefront of the aftermarket. Yoshimura exhaust systems are race bred and feature the same legendary performance, fit, and quality that has been their trademark for six decades. To learn more about Yoshimura and view their wide variety of performance products, visit www.yoshimura-rd.com.