Troy Dog
It’s a BIG week for the HEP Suzuki squad as they are going to have a full house…or semi this weekend at Unadilla. They will be going from two to three riders for the rest of the season.
The biggest bit of news is the return of Ken Roczen to the 450 class. The two-time 450 Pro Motocross Champion is always a welcomed addition to the class. He makes his return from his broken tibia plateau, foot, and toe that he sustained at the Nashville Supercross back in April.
Also on the rider roster is Colt Nichols, who will be making his debut with the HEP team. Nichols recently split ways with the Beta Factory Team and was quickly scooped up by the RM Army.
What are your expectations for each rider in their return to racing? We want to hear you in the comments.
Anytime Roczen is on the gate you can count on him up in the mix. Remember High Point last year when he came out to race in honor of Father’s Day and was the first person not named Jett Lawrence to lead laps?
The goal for these guys is to get some gate drops in before the SMX Playoffs start in September. Roczen is currently sitting 12th in the SMX Playoff seeding, while Nichols is currently in 29th. Nichols will get some more points on the board, but he will also get some help from Adam Cianciarulo, his ex-teammate Benny Bloss (who’s injured) as well as maybe a couple of others to improve his seeding.
I talked to both Shane McElrath and Kyle Chisholm recently and they’ve been in work mode this summer. Both of them have been putting in some very long days at the test track trying to dial in the perfect suspension setting for race day conditions. We talked about it on a recent episode of the Squad Pod.
It looks like they were able to get comfortable recently as both Chiz and Sugar Shane put in their best overall finishes on the season with a 13th and 11th overall at Spring Creek respectively. Chiz was able to follow that up with another 13th overall at Washougal before the break.
McElrath will no longer be with the HEP Suzuki team and is rumored to be heading to the MADD Parts Kawasaki team alongside Freddie Noren, though nothing is official.
The hard work and long testing days are paying off, but now with a full house are we in for a rush of yellow up front in the final three rounds?
That’s the goal and our guy Chiz will ride 700 hours a week until it’s achieved.
Main Image: Octopi Media
