Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe's Max Anstie continued his 2013 World MX2 pre-season training programme by fighting back from 18th position at Saturday's second round of AMA/ FIM World Supercross series at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 19-year-old Briton put in a promising practice and qualifying session, finishing sixth in his heath that placed him into the Main Event, held in front of a packed crowd of 50,109.
Anstie had a good start on his RM-Z250 but was involved in an incident at the first corner, which forced him off the track and way out of contention, but charged back to take 11th and hold eighth place in the series.
Max Anstie:
"I got a real good gate drop in the Main Event, so it's a real pity I couldn't make it around the first corner cleanly. But it's part of racing too - the most important thing is that I feel at home on my RM-Z250 and with the people around me, who are all working hard! It's nice to see that things are improving each day so I'm looking forward to Anaheim 2!"
Thomas Ramsbacher - Team Manager:
"Max is continuing to show his real potential; it's a great learning experience for both him and the team. From both sides we are working in a positive atmosphere and figuring out on which points of the package we can improve on. We are still on schedule and real happy with the opportunity to ride a pre-season like this with Max."
The Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe team is now facing a busy couple of weeks. While Anstie is preparing for Anaheim 2, the rest of the team is preparing for their European pre season: Julien Lieber will race the Mantova Starcross in Italy, Le Touquet Beach Race in France and Hawkstone Park in the UK. Jeremy Seewer will race in Mantova and the last round of the Italian International Championship at Arco-di-Trento, while team youngsters Brian Hsu and Jorge Zaragoza will take more time to prepare themselves for the first races.
250cc West Results:
1. Eli Tomac (Honda) 2. Ken Roczen (KTM) 3. Martin Davalos (Kawasaki) 4. Cole Seely (Honda) 5. Jessy Nelson (Honda) 6. Zach Osborne (Honda) 7. Ryan Sipes (Rockstar Energy Suzuki) 8. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 9. Joey Savatgy (Honda) 10. Christian Craig (Honda) 11. Max Anstie (Rockstar Energy Suzuki)
