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BROC TICKLE
450 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Broc Tickle has been able to show his speed throughout the middle of the season once the series made the shift from west coast to east. The Michigan native is one of the most promising riders in soft, technical condi- tions which are more commonly found on the eastern side of the United States, but the fourteenth round of the series in Seattle serves as a bit of an anomaly. The RCH Suzuki rider had his best result of the season back at the tenth round of racing in Toronto where he finished just behind Ryan Dungey in third position on the box, and he has put in three top five finishes since then. Tickle adapted fairly quickly to the track laid out in Rice-Eccles Stadium as he fought his way to the tenth fastest qualifying time, setting him up in a good position heading into the heat races. He wasn’t able to
put himself in an advantageous position off of the start in his heat race as he came across the finish line for the first time outside of the top ten. Tickle did his best to work his way back through the pack, but he only managed to push his way to seventh position, sending him along to the semis. The RCH Suzuki rider was able to improve his starting position drastically
when the gate dropped on the main event as he put himself within the top ten throughout the opening rhythm lanes. Tickle stayed consistent for the introductory portion of the race as he held strong in seventh position until Eli Tomac came barrelling through on his way to the front of the field. He wasn’t discouraged after losing the position as he kept his focus forward on Blake Baggett ahead of him, eventually pouncing on the KTM rider on the sixth lap in order to move into seventh position. From that point forward,
it was a matter of racing the track and staying consistent -- and Tickle did exactly that as he scored another impressive top ten finish by way of sixth place on a challenging night in Seattle.
24 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017