Team Suzuki Press Office – January 3. Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart has never been more prepared for the start of a racing season than he is today. As Stewart gets ready to embark on his second full year of racing the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450, the championship-winning rider is literally counting down the days to the season-opening round of the 2014 AMA/ FIM Supercross series at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California this weekend.
“I’m really excited to get back to racing Supercross,” said Stewart. “During the off-season, I’ve been training at home in Florida and focusing on being consistent and doing my normal program. Last season, we struggled a bit but I felt like we really started to gel as a team toward the end of the year. After a year of racing the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450, I feel more comfortable on the bike and our goal is to build on the momentum we had going at the end of the season. Now I’m just looking forward to staying healthy and being competitive at Anaheim 1 and for the rest of the year.”
In AMA Supercross last year, Stewart turned in a stellar performance on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and achieved several career milestones. The most impressive of these was becoming one of just three racers ever to go nine straight seasons with a win, thanks to his 2013 victory at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. In addition to this, Stewart raced his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to podium finishes at both the St. Louis and Indianapolis events. Finally, he culminated the year by capturing the stand-alone Monster Energy Cup Championship in his first-ever attempt at the prestigious race.
“Everyone at Yoshimura Suzuki is looking forward to the start of the 2014 season,” said Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing Team Manager Mike Webb. “Last year we had a little bit of a learning curve but now we’ve really come together as a team. We’re looking forward to using the momentum we built last year to take it to the next level this season. Between James’ unparalleled talent, Suzuki’s championship-winning DNA and Yoshimura’s unbeatable expertise in racing, we definitely have a lot to be excited about in 2014.”
Looks like #7 is continuing his trend of being known as the “fastest crasher on the planet”. One can never win a championship in the first race, but can certainly lose it! Try staying on two wheels James, you’ll look better in your fans eyes. Your team pays you to finish races, not to crash out every other round.