Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Blake Baggett had a difficult weekend at the High Point National in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania. He tangled with another rider, which caused a mechanical and sidelined him in the first moto. And then a crash and subsequent delay getting back in the race slowed his progress in the second moto.

Yet in spite of the difficult circumstances, Baggett was able to salvage an 11th-place finish in Moto 2 and that enabled him to finish 16th overall (34-11) and score 10 valuable championship points to keep him in the top-five of the AMA Pro 450 Motocross Championship.

When it was all said and done at High Point, Baggett leaves Pennsylvania, dropping from third to fifth in the standings. On the bright side his never-say-die ride in the second moto gave him enough points to be only five points out of third, so the damage to his series hopes was not as bad as it initially looked.

The weekend started off normally enough with Baggett tapping into the power of his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to qualify sixth with a best lap time of 2:00.592. Baggett spoke of the challenges of the hilly High Point track.

“It’s pretty good, really rutty,” he said. “It’s like some places have unbelievable traction and then in other places it’s right down to that base, real hard and slick, a rocky kind of a base. It’s going be about line choice and keeping your momentum going.”

In the first moto Baggett and another rider came together. The impact caused a rare mechanical issue with Baggett’s bike and he was forced out of the moto while running eighth. He ended up 34th.

In the second moto he was running just outside the top 10 when he crashed. Unfortunately in the position he was in it took a while before he was able to re-join the race. By then he’d dropped outside the top 20. Luckily for Baggett, once he was back underway he blitzed through the field, utilizing his fitness and the agility of his RM-Z450 to rally all the way back to 11th. The charge proved to be valuable, since it earned him double-digit points and kept him in a strong position in the standings after five of 12 rounds.

“It wasn’t the best day that we’ve had, but we’ll keep plugging away,” Baggett said after the race. “I got into somebody and had a mechanical. There was nothing we could do about it. Stuff happens; it’s racing.

“In the second moto I started on the outside and was running in a decent position and then I tucked the front end. It took me a little bit to get the bike picked back up and get going. I was somewhere in the 20s I think, and I fought my way back to 11th. It is what it is and we’ll move on and keep working hard.”

There is a weekend off before Yoshimura Suzuki returns to action in the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday, June 27th, as the series moves to Mechanicsville, Maryland, and the Budds Creek National.

High Point 450 Motocross Results:

1. Ken Roczen – RCH Suzuki - (2-1) 2. Ryan Dungey (1-2) 3. Jason Anderson (4-3) 4. Christophe Pourcel (3-5) 5. Justin Barcia (5-4) 6. Broc Tickle – RCH Suzuki - (6-8) 7. Weston Peick (11-6) 8. Cole Seely (7-10) 9. Wil Hahn (10-9) 10. Fredrick Noren (8-12) 16. Blake Baggett – Yoshimura Suzuki - (34-11)

450 Motocross Standings:

1. Ryan Dungey, 222 2. Ken Roczen, 185 3. Jason Anderson, 150 4. Justin Barcia, 148 5. Blake Baggett, 145 6. Broc Tickle, 131 7. Weston Peick, 129 8. Eli Tomac, 125 9. Christophe Pourcel, 115 10. Phil Nicoletti, 106