Press Release

Yoshimura-Backed Teams Dominate Hangtown Motocross

CHINO, CA (MAY 22, 2012) –Yoshimura-backed teams celebrated the season opener of the firstround the 2012 AMA Pro Motocross Championship at the HangtownNational in Sacramento, CA, on Saturday afternoon with strongresults. The Yoshimura Suzuki, Honda Racing and Rockstar EnergyRacing Suzuki teams used the performance advantage of their Yoshimuraproducts to dominate in Sacramento.

Team Yoshimura Suzuki Racing could nothave scripted a sweeter start to the Motocross season if they’dtried. Returning to the motocross series for the first time since2008, new Yoshimura Suzuki rider James Stewart raced his RM-Z450 tovictory in both 450 motos to take the overall win. Yoshimura Suzuki’sBrett Metcalfe was right there with his new teammate, puttingtogether two solid motos to finish the day in a very respectablefifth-place overall.

In his inaugural race on the YoshimuraSuzuki RM-Z450, Stewart was nothing short of flawless. The first motosaw him get a great start and take the lead on the first lap. Fromthere, Stewart slowly but surely created a gap and led all laps totake the win. In the second moto, Stewart got shuffled around a biton the start but quickly made short work of the competition. Takingthe lead, Stewart rode a calculated, efficient race, and again gappedthe field while remaining in his comfort zone. Anything but victorywas simply out of the question.

“I couldn’t ask for anythingbetter,” said Stewart. “The Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 was reallyfast and consistent. In the first moto, I got a great start and I wasin the lead on the first lap. I rode my own race, and got a good gapand was able to win that one. In the second moto, I had to work forit. I had to come around some guys… then I was able to stay thereand keep the pace. As the day went on, the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450was just better and better and better. I have to give it up to theteam for all their hard work. I don’t want to get over-confident,but to start off like this – knowing this is one of my worst tracks– and know we can keep building, makes it so good.”

Likewise, Australian Metcalfe turned ina promising performance in both motos. In the first one, Metcalfe gota good start on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and worked his way up tosecond before fatigue set in and he finished fourth. In the secondmoto, Metcalfe again ran in a podium position before finishing fifth.At the end of the day, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider was happy to finishfifth overall. Metcalfe is in a three-way tie for third inchampionship points.

“I’ve been looking forward to thestart of the motocross season,” said Metcalfe. “The YoshimuraSuzuki RM-Z450 is working great and Motocross is a nice change ofpace. In moto one, I got a top-five start and I was feeling strong. Imade some moves early and moved up to second, but wasn’t able tofinish at the same intensity level I started with. Moto two was muchthe same, though I didn’t have a very good start. My speed andskills on the Suzuki feel really good right now, so I was able tomake passes and move through the pack. Again, I just wasn’t able tofinish the moto strong. We need to work on that, because if I want tocontend for wins, that’s what I’ve got to do.”

Yoshimura-backed Team Honda MuscleMilk’s Ashley Fiolek and Yoshimura-backed GEICO Honda’s JustinBarcia both had impressive starts to the season, placing secondoverall aboard their Honda CRF250Rs.

In the 250 class, Justin Barcia grabbedthe holeshot in both motos, racing his Yoshimura-equipped GEICO HondaCRF250R to third in moto one and securing second in moto two for asecond overall. “As much as I want to win, being on the podium is agreat way to start the season,” stated Barcia. Teammate Eli Tomacput together a solid ride in moto one, finishing in fourth.Unfortunately, Tomac went down in the first turn of moto two and wasforced to charge his way through the pack. He rode a notable race,making his way up to 10th and clinching fifth overall.Yoshimura-backed GEICO Honda’s Wil Hahn rounded out the top 10 witha seventh in moto one and 13th in moto two.

In the Women’s Motocross Championship(WMA), Yoshimura-backed Team Honda Muscle Milk riders had an excitingstart to the season. Ashley Fiolek grabbed the holeshot in moto oneand rode an inspired race all the way to the finish, nailing down thewin. She got another great start in moto two but went down, sendingher to the back of the pack. She charged her way through the field,finishing in fifth place for second overall. Sayaka Kaneshiro, thenewest addition to the team, had the best finish of her WMA career,going 5-4 for fifth overall.

In the 450 class, Tommy Hahn joined theYoshimura-backed Team Honda Muscle Milk squad, making his debutSaturday aboard a factory-prepared CRF450R. After placing a solidseventh in qualifying, Hahn rode his way to an eighth-place finish inmoto one. After getting another good start in moto two, Hahn wentdown hard, causing him to fall to the back of the pack. He earned arespectable 13th overall. “I am really happy to have this firstrace out of the way, and overall am pleased with the results,” saidHahn. “Apart from going down in the second moto, I felt good andwas having fun. I am looking forward to building off this andimproving my results throughout the rest of the season.”

In moto one, Yoshimura-backed TeamHonda Muscle Milk’s Justin Brayton grabbed a mid-pack start androde a consistent race until going down on the last lap, sending himback to 24th. Still recovering from his crash in the first moto,Brayton rode his way to a 16th-place finish in moto two.

The Yoshimura-backed Rockstar EnergyRacing Suzuki team got off to a promising start of the 2012 AMA ProMotocross season and left Hangtown with a victory in the WMX classand top-10 finishes in the 250 class.

Rockstar’snewly signed Jessica Patterson started the 2012 WMX season withstyle. One of the most successful female motocross riders competingtoday, Patterson captured the overall victory in WMX at Hangtown,thanks to two second-place moto finishes. “Today was pretty good,”said Patterson. “In the first moto, I got a good start but I made afew mistakes and got passed, so I just kind of rode the race out andfinished second. In the second moto, I was leading for a while andmade a good pass at the beginning. But then I made a mistake andcrashed, but I came back and got second. At least I got the overalland I’m happy with that. We’ll just look forward to next week andhopefully come back with a one-one.”

Topping out the250 class for Yoshimura-backed Rockstar Energy Racing was MartinDavalos. Although he struggled in the first moto and finished 14th,Davalos came back with a vengeance in moto two to card fourth. In theend, Davalos finished sixth overall for the day. “Hangtown startedout a little rough,” said Davalos. “We didn’t qualify well, Igot a horrible start in the first moto, and then I couldn’t findany momentum. But in the second moto, I got a good start and rodesolid, and I finished fourth. It was a good way to start the season,and now I’m looking forward to Freestone.”

Yoshimura-backedRockstar Energy Racing teammate Jason Anderson turned in a veryconsistent ride, finishing eighth in the first moto and ninth in thesecond for eighth overall. In the second 250 moto, Anderson ran inthe top five for much of the race before a small mistake pushed himback a few spots. “My first moto was kind of mediocre,” saidAnderson. “I got eighth. In my second moto, I was rippin’ upfront, and a guy got by my and then I stalled my bike. It was a goodweekend overall, though, and I’m looking forward to racing inTexas.”

Like histeammates, Yoshimura-backed Rockstar Energy Racing’s Blake Whartonstruggled in the first moto before finding his rhythm in the second.Wharton finished 16th in the first moto, sixth in the second and took12th overall for the day. Rounding out the squad for Yoshimura-backedRockstar Energy Racing was Hunter Hewitt, who put in a concertedeffort in both motos. Hewitt finished 17th in the first, 16th in thesecond and wound up 18th overall at the end of the day.

The next stopfor the Yoshimura-backed teams is the second round of the 2012 AMAPro Motocross Championship on Saturday, May 26th, at the FreestoneNational in Wortham, TX.

About Yoshimura R&D of America:Yoshimura is “The Leader in Performance” and has been formore than 55 years. With unmatched skills, knowledge, and passion forracing, Yoshimura is on the forefront of the aftermarket exhaustindustry. Yoshimura pipes are race bred and feature the samelegendary performance, fit and quality that has been their trademarkfor more than five decades. To learn more about Yoshimura and viewtheir wide variety of performance products, visitwww.yoshimura-rd.com.

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