Page 62 - Issue45

Broc Tickle
450 SX / 12TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / WILSON
>> Michigan native, Broc Tickle finished in a strong sixth place in the last round in Seattle and was looking to build upon that in Salt Lake City this weekend. The RCH Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing rider lined up for the first heat race of the night hungry for a podium finish and a golden ticket directly to the Main Event. With only two rounds left, tensions were at an all time high in scenic Utah and things were bound to get competitive. Right off the start of the heat race, Tickle found himself in fourth place and then quickly capitalized on the mistakes of other riders and moved into second place behind Josh Grant. Broc Tickle held onto
the second place spot as he soared past the checkered flag and was confidently headed straight to the Main Event. As the 450 class lined up for what was bound to be an interesting night in Utah’s capital, Tickle only had one thing on his mind: a top five finish. After a great heat race, a lot was expected from the number
20. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Broc Tickle got the start that he was looking for when he found himself immediately in ninth place. Tickle held onto ninth for
a large portion of the 27-28 lap moto but sadly ran into a mishap around the 11 minute plus 1 lap mark when he dropped back to fourteenth place. Thankfully, eleven minutes is practically an eternity in supercross and Broc Tickle still had plenty of time for a little redemption. He was able to move into thirteenth and then, on the final lap, he was able to make a pass on Justin Brayton and crossed the finish line in twelfth place. Obviously, these were not the results that Broc Tickle was looking for in SLC. We all know that Tickle is capable of a spot within the top five and hopefully finds growth moving forward into the next round.
62 GRITMOTO • APRIL 23, 2017