Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Blake Baggett got stronger as the Main Event progressed in Saturday evening’s season-opening round of the 2015 AMA/ FIM World Supercross Series at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
Although Baggett got off to a slow start, he rallied and steadily passed a half-dozen riders on his way to scoring a respectable 12th-place finish in his premier class debut aboard his No. 4 Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450.
“My first 450 Main event went good,” said Baggett, who placed second among the high-profile 2015 rookie class that also included Jason Anderson, Cole Seely and Dean Wilson. “I didn’t get the greatest start, but I just poked away and learned a lot from it. I’m definitely happy with my finish tonight and I’m just going to build on that from here on in. I’ve got to give it up to the whole Yoshimura Suzuki team for having my back and we’ll just keep clawing our way up until we reach the podium.”
Baggett’s goal in the highly-anticipated Anaheim season opener was to simply get through his first 450 Supercross weekend with as little drama as possible and he met that goal, riding clean and steady all night. He ran 12th in timed qualifying, just 1.6 seconds off the fastest time of the session.
“Practice went pretty good,” Baggett explained. “I was just getting my feet wet on the new bike and getting a little bit more comfortable on it. The Anaheim track is definitely different from the test tracks. Each session we learned a little bit more and made some settings changes. It got pretty cold by the time the Main Event came around and my main goal was to keep it steady.”
Baggett made a conservative start and ran 18th on the first lap before finding his rhythm and moving forward the rest of the race to end up 12th, just behind a torrid battle between veterans Chad Reed and Jake Weimer.
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next event is the second round of the 2015 AMA/ FIM World Supercross Championship this coming Saturday, January 10th, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
Anaheim 1 450 Supercross Results: 1. Ken Roczen (RCH Suzuki), 2. Jason Anderson (Husqvarna), 3. Trey Canard (Honda), 4. Ryan Dungey (KTM), 5. Andrew Short (KTM), 6. Justin Barcia (Yamaha), 7. Weston Peick (Yamaha), 8. Broc Tickle (RCH Suzuki), 9. Mike Alessi (Suzuki), 10. Chad Reed (Kawasaki), 12. Blake Baggett (Yoshimura Suzuki).
