James Stewart has officially been ruled out of the final two rounds of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross.
By Hayden Gregory
A disappointing year keeps getting worse for the Yoshimura Suzuki #7 with an injured shoulder ruling him out for the rest of the season. It was almost expected that we would fail to see Stewart once again line up behind the gates after a string of injuries has kept him off the bike.
At this stage Stewart’s future is still uncertain. The one time legend has not had any real bike time for over two years now and setback after setback has got to take its toll.
Blake Baggett has also been ruled out with injury meaning fill in rider, Matt Bisceglia will be the sole competitor for the Yoshimura Suzuki team.
The full press release on Stewart’s injury can be seen below.
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart will miss the rest of the 2016 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship after reinjuring his shoulder in practice prior to Unadilla. Stewart was hoping to race the final two rounds of the series, but the combination of his fitness level and the nagging shoulder injury, which was incurred at the Hangtown National in May, leaves him unable to attempt competing.
Yoshimura Suzuki will close out the season with Matt Bisceglia continuing to fill-in for the squad in the final pair of races of 2016 at Budds Creek, Maryland this Saturday and in Crawfordsville, Indiana on August 27.
“The team decided it was best for Stewart to not attempt competing in the last two rounds,” said Mike Webb, Yoshimura Suzuki team manager. “It’s been a disappointing year for James and the team. It just seemed like every time he started to comeback, he’d hit another roadblock. We want to see James get back to full health.”
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett also was sidelined earlier this season with injury.
“The reality is that motocross is a tough sport and this kind of thing is not uncommon,” Webb continued. “On the positive side we were able to bring in Matt and he’s done an outstanding job as a substitute rider, scoring three-top 10 finishes in his first season racing the 450s. We’re hoping he can continue his strong momentum in the final two events.”
