James Stewart has crashed out of the motocross season opener in Hangtown.
By Hayden Gregory
Following a disastrous supercross season, Stewart was looking to make amends in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Lining up for the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory team, Stewart qualified in ninth for the first main, and a less than ideal start left him back in fourteenth.
While circling back in the pack, Stewart crashed over an embankment on lap five, landing on his shoulder, and causing him to pull out of the moto. The injury was then deemed too painful for him to attempt race two.
“I had a decent practice, but got a horrible start in the first moto,” Stewart said. “I was just riding around trying to get comfortable. I came across the mechanic’s area and the next thing I know I was grabbing and hanging-on to my bike trying to hug-it. I went off this steep embankment and landed on my shoulder.
“I’m bummed. I keep putting-in all this work and things keep happening. I can’t quit. As hard as it is now I refuse to quit. I know I’m not done. I’m going to go back to work after I have my shoulder checked-out. I’ll see how I feel. Hopefully I can get back into action next week. I’ll be back, it’s just another setback.”
It was once again a tough day for the Yoshimura Suzuki team with Stewart’s team mate Blake Baggett also crashing hard, breaking his collarbone in moto two.
At this stage it is unsure whether Stewart will line-up this weekend at Glen Helen.
