Suzuki’s Broc Tickle Returns to Supercross with Impressive Night

Jimmy Decotis Kicks-Off the 250 East Coast Series on his RM-Z250 in Tampa

The JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Racing team was proud to sign Broc Tickle for his return to racing just prior to round seven of the Monster Energy Supercross series that took place Saturday night inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. After limited time on the bike, though familiar with the competitive Suzuki RM-Z450, Tickle was impressive all day and finished the 450 main event in a respectable 12th place. The event also marked the opening round of 250 East Coast racing where Jimmy Decotis soldiered through a practice crash injury to score top-ten points on his Suzuki RM-Z250.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Tickle's return to racing as a Supercross fill-in 450 rider for the JGR team, and Tickle did not disappoint. The Michigan native showed he hadn't lost a tick of speed during time qualifying where he posted top-15 lap times on the first, second, and overall qualifying session time sheets. In his heat race, Broc avoided a first turn tangle and made his way to a solid fourth-place finish and direct transfer to the main event. In the main, Tickle was eighth at the holeshot line and spent early laps running in the top-ten, but some late battles netted him a 12th place finish, an extremely impressive first race back against competitors already seven rounds into their racing season.

“My first race back in almost two years was filled with emotions. I’m very happy with how smooth and calm I stayed throughout the day," said Tickle. "I felt like I haven’t missed a beat overall being away. I will improve each week as a racer and get more comfortable. I want to thank JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki for all the hard work over the last three weeks preparing for Tampa. I'm looking forward to getting more quality riding and training in this week to show up to Dallas a step better than this round.”

"It was a good weekend," said Jeremy Albrecht, Team Manager. "We had a lot of excitement around Broc’s return to racing and he did great. It was impressive to see how fast he adapted to his RM-Z450 and he came out swinging. He had a great heat race, battling to finish fourth, and a strong main event ending in 12th. Broc had speed to be in the top-ten so that excites us for next week."

Jimmy Decotis, who raced a JGR-tuned RM-Z450 in the opening three rounds of 2020 to warm up for 250 class racing, had a practice crash just five days prior to Tampa that resulted in a fractured pelvis. Decotis pushed through the pain to win the 250 LCQ. In the main event, Jimmy D got a great jump off the line and reached the first corner first, but his outside line pushed him back to only eighth at the holeshot stripe. Decotis got shuffled back a bit early in the main, but made some passes and finished in a solid ninth place.

“The first round of 250 East Coast racing was a challenging task for me and the JGR team. We fought hard all day, pushing through an injury and we ended up with a ninth-place finish," said Decotis. "I’m thankful for my crew and everyone who kept me positive through the adversity. I'm excited for a few days of rest so I can let the body heal and then head to Arlington, Texas healthy and ready to challenge upfront."

"Jimmy has been riding better than ever but had a crash last Monday that made his weekend tough," Albrecht added. "I was proud of him for the effort he put in all week and weekend to get a top-ten finish. Jimmy was in a lot of pain and kept fighting to do his best. With another week of recovery, it will help him a ton. I hope you all can see what we have seen at the JGR track."

The team is looking forward to more great track speed and even stronger results this weekend at round eight in Arlington, Texas on February 22nd.

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.