Page 30 - Issue43

BROC TICKLE
450 SX / 8TH
IMAGE / LANGSTON WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> The #20 RCH Suzuki of Broc Tickle has felt the unwavering pains of inconsis- tency thus far through 2017. Looking back four weeks ago, at round 9 in Toronto, Broc saw his best finish of the season with a podium north of the border. Since then, lacking the needed regularity up front to remain the threat he is capable of being, Tickle has yet to return to the top five. As a result, he came into St. Louis this past Saturday searching for speed. The night for Tickle unfortunately started out rough in the Dome at America’s Center, though, as the 11th place qualifier was unable to get the jump to the first turn and came out fighting in 8th, well outside of contention for the main. The anticipation for forward movement was beginning to grow quickly but Tickle, unable to mount any sort of attack, settled into the position behind the #19 of Justin Bogle and slowly let the gap extend beyond return. In his semi, Tickle again put his back against the wall with a bad start, leaving three rid- ers between him and the main event following the first turn. Surprisingly, Tickle was obviously willing to risk it by motoring into the top five well before the end of lap two and into a qualifying spot. Battling in 4th, Tickle made another move before the start of lap three to reach 3rd behind Seely and Webb but the momentum stopped there; Tickle left to research the track alone, taking notes of potential lines to use in the main for the final few laps.
Continuing to struggle out of the gate, the main was a different page of the same book for Tickle. He came out somewhat buried, rounding turn one near 10th place and trading paint with the entire field early on, shuffled back further to 14th as the race settled in. Not trying to waste time, Tickle was in 11th a lap later getting by Reed, Barcia and Baggett in the blink of an eye. Of course, Barcia wasn’t going down without a battle and Tickle was stuck trading positions with Justin and Blake while the race was reaching the midway point. Barcia buckled, though, letting both riders by and Tickle found 12th with more than half the main event left to unravel. Reaching 10th a few laps later, Broc capitalized on late mistakes from Davi Mill- saps and Malcolm Stewart, sliding into 8th a lap before the checkered flag waved, closing out the night of round thirteen on a positive note.
30 GRITMOTO • APRIL 2, 2017