Suzuki kicked off the opening round of the AMA motocross series in Pala, California, last the weekend with consistency and will look for more of that this weekend.
Twisted Tea/ H.E.P. Motorsports/ Suzuki team ridert Max Anstie started his second career assault on the series aboard his Suzuki RM-Z450 race bike and team-mate Brandon Hartranft launched into his first year in the 450cc motocross class.
Anstie, applying his MXGP successes to the US motocross series, had strong speed and is in top form to impress this summer.
The Englishman put in two steady moto performances to start his second full season with a good, stable base and a respectable number of points earned to start a strong season.
He finds himself ranked 13th overall after round one, while Hartranft is in 22nd position overall.
Said Anstie: “We’ve got the first one out of the way here at Pala.
“I felt my riding was solid and I felt good, but I’ve got some things I want to work on in the next few weeks for the upcoming rounds. Everyone on the team is working hard and we want to keep progressing and climbing up that leader board. We ended up 13th, but we want more, so let’s keep trucking’ on!”
Hartranft took his first race laps in the 450 outdoor series. Unfortunately, one small mistake kept him from a truly impressive 450 class debut, yet he came off the track knowing that he has the talent and equipment to compete at the sport’s premier level.
“Overall, it was a good, solid day for my first 450 pro national,” said Hartranft.
“In moto one I would’ve finished in about 16th except I fell at about the halfway mark; I could only recover up to 21st position so unfortunately, I didn’t score any points in the moto. I got a mid-pack start in the second moto and fought pretty hard the whole time and earned some points.
“The track was super gnarly, especially the rutted finish line section. All in all, the Pala track was probably one of the toughest tracks I’ve ever ridden. We’ll take the positives from today and I can’t wait until next weekend.”
The 2021 AMA Pro Motocross Championship is scheduled to run its full race season this summer with 12 rounds that cross the US coast-to-coast four times.
This weekend the riders head to Thunder Valley Motocross Park in Lakewood, Colorado, for round two of the series.
Photo courtesy Suzuki USA
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450MX Class standings in 2021 after 1 of 12 rounds:
- Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha – 45
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda – 40
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha – 40
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GASGAS – 35
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda – 33
- Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 29
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 27
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM – 26
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 25
- Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna – 24
250MX Class standings in 2021 after 1 of 12 rounds:
- Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 47
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha – 47
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 36
- Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., GASGAS – 36
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna – 32
- Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 31
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha – 28
- Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki – 27
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 21
- Jo Shimoda, Japan, Kawasaki – 17
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna – 17