Noren Rips at RedBud National and Roczen Takes Round 1 Win in WSX

Suzuki Advances into Sixth Place in the MX Season Championship 

BREA, CA, July 3, 2023 — The RedBud National kicked off a long Fourth of July weekend with intense motocross racing in Buchanan, Michigan. Light rain in qualifying gave way to hot weather and a rough and rutted track for round five of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship during the 50th year celebration of the RedBud National. 

Race Highlights:

• Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance (AMA Pro Motocross)
  • 450 Class
    • Freddie Noren sliced through the pack in the first moto then captured his fifth top-ten moto finish of the season in the second moto.  
• Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki (AMA Pro Motocross)
  • 450 Class
    • Derek Drake pulled in another top ten moto finish and another top-ten overall result.    
  • 250 Class
    • Dilan Schwartz earned his season-best results, including a top ten moto finish, to advance in the championship standings.    
    • Chase Yentzer scored his career-best overall result and matched his career-best moto finish. 
• Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki (WSX)
  • 450 Class
    • Ken Roczen goes 1-2-1 to take the overall win at the opening round in Birmingham, UK.
    • Kyle Chisholm takes a 6th-place overall with 10-7-4 in three moto format. 

Freddie Noren (47) delivered another season-best ride earning a solid seventh overall aboard his Suzuki RM-Z450.

Freddie Noren was the lone rider on the Twisted Tea Suzuki team for the weekend, but one was all the team needed. Noren nearly captured a top-five start in the first moto and held on for a seventh-place result. After starting outside the top 10 in moto two, Noren charged forward to earn another top-ten moto result. He earned a season-best overall result and moved his Suzuki RM-Z450 up two positions in the championship standings. 

"I'm super-pumped on the day. Still, I didn't feel like I was having a perfect, flawless race," said Noren. "I had two solid motos, going 7-8 for seventh overall, but what I'm really excited for is moving up to sixth place in the championship. It was fun at RedBud. I felt comfortable all day; no incidents and it was pretty much drama-free, which made it a perfect day, in a sense. I did have a few moments on the track here and there, but I think everyone had a few of those moments on this track today. We did make some small changes on the bike throughout the day. I have a lot of testing this week before Southwick, so I’m excited about that as well. Southwick is a good track for me, and I like it there. We'll keep the momentum building and hammer down!" 

Dilan Schwartz (85) used consistency to match his season-best overall result.

Dilan Schwartz was flying from the moment the gate dropped in the first moto. After starting outside the top 20, Schwartz sliced steadily through the pack. Schwartz used that momentum to pull a top-ten start in the second moto on his Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki RM-Z250. His strong results moved him into the top 15 in the championship standings after five rounds. 

"RedBud was great!" exclaimed Schwartz. "We had a super consistent day, going 13-13. We just need to fix a few things to run more toward the front, but we aren't far off! I’m looking forward to next weekend."

Derek Drake (53) had great speed and qualified inside the top ten in combined qualifying times.

Derek Drake put in a strong charge aboard his BarX Suzuki RM-Z450 early in the first 450 moto. Drake worked forward early from a mid-pack start to break into the top ten in the race. Unfortunately, Drake had a setback in moto one. He rebounded to grab points in moto two but was unable to match his top ten overall results from the previous round. 

"In the first moto I had a bad start, then started to work my way up," said Drake. "Then a rock got in my chain which caused the rear wheel to lock up. By the time I was going again, I was a lap down and my clutch started to go away. In the second moto, I worked my way up again, but had clutch wear so I just had to ride it into the finish."

Chase Yentzer (361) was strong in qualifying before being sidelined with an illness.

Chase Yentzer was on his way to another strong ride in his rookie season. After posting great lap times in the 250 A group, the young racer was feeling very ill, and the team made the call to sit Yentzer out for the remainder of the event. 

"We only had Freddie Noren this weekend, which was good because then were able to concentrate on him, making for a really strong performance," said Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager Larry Brooks. "We finished 13th in timed practice, which wasn't the greatest. Then in the first moto, Freddie had a fifth-place start and finished seventh, which we were pretty happy with. And then in the second moto, he had a 20th-place start and advanced to finish eighth. We moved up to sixth in the championship standings, so both Freddie and the team had a really good day, so we're pretty happy right now."

"We had a hot one at RedBud," said Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki Team Manager Buddy Antunez. "Chase Yentzer had a great second-timed qualifying. He was pumped to go racing but unfortunately started feeling ill, and couldn't compete for the day. Dilan Schwartz was consistent all day and earned a 12th overall. Derek Drake had a great first qualifier, sitting in 6th place. He had a first moto tip over and after that, he just couldn't get going the rest of the day."

The Suzuki roster at RedBud was limited due to the schedule conflict with the 2023 FIM World Supercross Championship’s first round in Birmingham, England on July 3.  Pipes Motorsport Group Suzuki's Ken Roczen took the first win of the WSX season to kick off his World Supercross title defense aboard his Suzuki RM-Z450. 

Roczen’s rock-solid consistency had him fastest in both warm-up and qualifying, and he went 1-2-1 in the WSX’s three-moto format, sealing the overall win and taking a seven-point lead in the 2023 WSX season championship.    

PMG teammate Kyle Chisholm also had strong results against the global WSX competition with a 6th-place finish overall, having gone 10-7-4 on the technical track at Birmingham’s Villa Park.
 
Suzuki congratulates Roczen and the PMG team for the win and strong opening round results in WSX.

The motocross series travels next to the deep sand track of The Wick 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts. The Suzuki racers and teams look forward to delivering more top results as the AMA Pro Motocross season reaches the mid-point of its 11-round schedule.