Team Yoshimura Suzuki Racing's James Stewart returned from injury at the popular RedBud AMA Pro Motocross Championship sixth round in Buchanan on Saturday, overcoming stifling humidity and temperatures over 100 degrees to finish third overall and once again putting his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 on the podium.
After two weeks of rest and rehabilitation away from the bike, Stewart took a conservative approach to rough-and-tumble RedBud. Turning in solid laps in practice, he qualified second and got a good gate pick. In the first 30-minute moto, Stewart got a good start and was running second when he suffered a few mishaps, but recovered to finish sixth. In the second moto, he slotted into third place long before the race's halfway point and turned consistent laps for the remainder of the moto. The sixth- and third-place finishes gave Stewart third overall for the day.
"It was an eventful day. I was second fastest in practice, but in the first moto, I realised I wasn't quite 100 per cent, but I still wanted to try and have a decent moto," Stewart explained.
"After one crash and a stall, I ended up sixth. In the second moto, I came from 10th and made my way up into third and just sat there. But it was good to be racing again, the Yoshimura Suzuki team was working hard and the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 was running great. The fans at RedBud are awesome and I was happy just to be back racing. Now I'm looking forward to Millville next weekend."
Team mate Brett Metcalfe, who'd moved into the top five in the overall championship points standings after the last round at Budds Creek, suffered a broken tibia and fibula in a recent practice crash. Although Metcalfe is on the mend, he'll most likely be out for the rest of the season.
Team Yoshimura Suzuki Racing's next event is the seventh round of the 2012 AMA Pro Motocross Championship on July 14th at the Spring Creek National in Millville
