Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart stepped it up this weekend at the Hangtown Motocross Classic, picking-up his first moto podium result at round two of the AMA Pro Motocross Championships and racing his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to fourth-place overall at the famous Sacramento race track in California.

The weekend’s first 30-minute moto saw Stewart get a good start on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and battle for a podium position before eventually finishing fifth. In the second moto, he got a better start but struggled early on before finding his rhythm. In time, though, Stewart became more and more comfortable on the choppy-but-flowing track and finished third. Together, the combined moto results gave him fourth overall for the day.

“The first moto we struggled a little bit,” said Stewart. “It was kind of like last weekend at Glen Helen Raceway, where we struggled with bike set-up. In the second moto, I got a good jump and came into the first corner pretty good. On the back half of the track, I lost a lot of positions on that first lap. But then I kind of settled into a pace. We’ve been making improvements to get better and that moto was, and it was great to get up on the podium. I felt pretty good, the best I have in four motos. I think if we can keep making improvements like this, we’re going to be pretty tough to beat. Every moto, we’ve gotten a little bit better and I’m looking forward to keeping that going in Colorado.”

Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next race is round three of the 2014 AMA Pro Motocross Championships on Saturday, June 7th, at the Thunder Valley National in Lakewood, CO.

2014 Hangtown MX 450 Results:

1. Ken Roczen (KTM) (1-1) 2. Ryan Dungey (KTM) (2-2) 3. Trey Canard (Honda) (3-4) 4. James Stewart (Yoshimura Suzuki) (5-3) 5. Justin Barcia (Honda) (4-5) 6. Weston Peick (Suzuki) (8-6) 7. Jake Weimer (Kawasaki) (7-8) 8. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki) (6-9) 9. Malcolm Stewart (Honda) (10-7) 10. Chad Reed (Kawasaki) (11-12)