Suzuki Racers Storm the Sands of Southwick

Round six of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross series marked the season's midpoint with a visit to the deep-sand track The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts. The track was as brutally rough as the hot and humid weather, which included a short rainfall that brought up the humidity more than it brought down the scorching temperatures. 

Race Highlights:

• Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance (AMA Pro Motocross)
  • 450 Class
    • Freddie Noren used top-ten qualifying speed to put on a heroic ride through the pack in moto one. 
    • Kyle Chisholm nailed a top-ten start in the opening moto.
• Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki (AMA Pro Motocross)
  • 250 Class
    • Dilan Schwartz fought forward for championship points in both motos. 
    • Chase Yentzer displayed impressive speed in the rookie's first visit to The Wick 338.

Freddie Noren kicked off the Southwick round with top-ten qualifying times aboard his Twisted Tea Suzuki RM-Z450. He passed his way forward in both motos to earn strong points as the 11-round motocross series passed its midpoint. 

"I went 15-11. I have higher expectations of myself. I feel like I should be between fifth and seventh, so twelfth overall is not ideal," said Noren. "The highlight of the day is that I got to go out as part of the top five on the sighting lap. That's a career-first, and it was pretty neat to be out there first on the track. As far as the motos went, I had rough starts. I started mid-pack then went down early in the first moto. I moved from 38th to 15th, so I guess that was a decent ride. In the second moto, I started at around 17th on the first lap and got up to 11th. The team's doing well. We made some changes this week that I'm happy with on the bike, so it's really more on me this weekend with the lack of results. I'm just going to go home, get some riding in, and be better next weekend."

Kyle Chisholm ran up front in moto one after launching his RM-Z450 to a top-ten start. He wasn't able to duplicate the start for moto two but used grit and skill to stay in the points throughout the final moto of the day. 

"Man, it was tough out there," stated Chisholm. "In the first moto, I ran in the top ten for most of the race. From eighth to where I was we were all somewhat close, I could see that pack and that was good. In the second moto, I tried to anticipate the gate dropping and I ended up being late on the gate; then, honestly, just ate roost the whole moto. It was tough trying to work my way up through the pack. On a track like this, with the sand, you really need to get to a good rhythm and a good flow, otherwise, it just beats you up and wears you out. Racing the World Supercross round in England last weekend went really well, I was happy with that, but I was a little jet-lagged this week. And man, everyone's talking about the heat today here in Southwick, but Florida this week was really, really hot. I tried to put a couple of good days in this week and I think I wore myself out a little. I'm going to focus on recovery this week and get my energy back up. Millville's one of my favorite tracks, I'm looking forward to that one next week, and we'll try to put it up there in the top ten."

Dilan Schwartz contended with poor starts and crashes but still posted strong results on the brutally rough sand track. Schwartz's efforts successfully kept his Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki inside the top 15 in the championship points.

"Southwick was a struggle," said Schwartz. "I'm not used to riding sand, and the results show that. The crashes I had didn't help the result either. So I'm going to get back to work this week to be ready for Millville next weekend."

Chase Yentzer was fast at his first visit to The Wick 338, but the qualifying session order put him into the LCQ. The short race, coupled with a last-lap crash, prevented the rookie from lining up for the points-paying motos. 

"My first 'Wick experience was super tough," Yentzer said. "I got taken out going down a high-speed straightaway in the first practice and really struggled to find my flow. I gave it everything I had in the second practice, knowing the track was much slower [because it was rougher]. I rushed everything and didn't get a great time. When I was on the gate for the LCQ I wasn't worried about making it with how good my starts have been. Unfortunately, I ended up getting a 15th-place start. I passed up to sixth, but I crashed on the last lap, and that put an early end to my day. The Wick is a tough track but I learned a lot. My team was great and they worked really hard with me all day!"

"The Southwick National is always an interesting round," said Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager Larry Brooks. "The sand and weather can throw you for a loop. Our guys did a great job being prepared. Freddie got 12th overall going 15-11. In the first moto, Freddie crashed in the opening lap and moved all the way up to 15th place from 38th place. Kyle Chisholm came back to us after racing last weekend in the UK. He rode well. Kyle finished 17th overall going 14-17. We have some work to do but we are excited for Millville." 

"It was very hot and humid here this weekend," Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki Team Manager Buddy Antunez stated. "We only had Schwartz and Yentzer racing this weekend for the Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki team. Chase Yentzer had a tough go in timed qualifying; he crashed a few too many times. In the consolation race, he didn't get the greatest of starts. He started picking riders off pretty quickly, making his way to the front. Then he crashed again with a lap to go, so that was the end of his chance to qualify. Schwartz had an improvement in his time qualifying performance, but I still think he can get up there a little bit better. In the first moto, he came from the back to a solid 15th place. In the second moto, he got a better start but made a few mistakes in the first laps and got passed. Then he started charging through the field and putting in some really good lap times in the back end of the moto, only to have a crash with three laps to go. But they're both healthy and we're looking forward to Millville."