If you read our 2014 Supercross preview story in issue 50 then you know this is something we were already on top of, but here’s the official announcement that RCH Factory Racing has re-signed Broc Tickle to ride the Suzuki RM-Z450 alongside 2014 AMA Motocross Champion Ken Roczen for the 2015 FIM/ AMA Monster Energy Supercross and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships.
Tickle was sidelined in March following a practice crash at the Toronto Supercross, where he sustained fractures of the T-6 and T-7 vertebrae, two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Since then, the Michigan rider has fully recovered from his injuries, making it an easy decision for team owners Carey Hart and Ricky Carmichael to include Tickle as part of the organization’s 2015 rider line-up; giving RCH a potent one-two punch heading into next month’s season-opener at Anaheim in California on January 3rd.
“I’m really excited to be back with RCH for 2015,” said Tickle. “We’ve had an awesome two years together and for Carey and Ricky to bring me back after my injury really shows what kind of guys those two are. They stuck with me and kept a spot for me. We were heading in the right direction until I got hurt in Toronto. I’m glad all that’s behind us and I feel great. I’ve been riding and getting ready for the Supercross season for the last month and I’m really pumped with the progress we’re making. All of the work the team has done building and testing with Ivan Tedesco over the summer has definitely paid off. The bike is amazing.”
After winning the 2011 Supercross Lites West title for Monster Energy Pro Circuit, Tickle made the jump from the 250 to the team’s big bike the following season. A fifth-place finish in the final 2012 Supercross point standings and a ninth-place in the Outdoor-series netted-him a new opportunity for 2013 with RCH: The new combination proved to be a consistent mix for Tickle and RCH, with a solid first season paying-off in-the-form of eighth-place finishes in both Supercross and Motocross seasons.
Last season, Tickle kick-started the 2014 campaign with back-to-back eighth-place finishes at Anaheim One and Phoenix before a pair of incidents in heat races at A2 and Oakland kept him from competing in each race’s 450 SX Main Events. From there, Tickle only finshed outside the top-eight once over the next six stops, including a career-best fourth-place-showing at Daytona International Speedway before the injury in Toronto.
RCH Factory Racing has seen steady progress since Hart and Carmichael formed a joint venture in 2013 and achieved the pairing’s first podium-finish in April of this year at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Always trendsetters in the paddock, RCH continues to show the way with unique marketing initiatives and partnership activations, consistently influencing the feel and dynamic of the pit area. Tickle’s No. 20 RM-Z450 will showcase sponsorship from Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, Jimmy Johns, Dodge, Sycuan Casino, Bel Ray, Suzuki and Rockford Fosgate.
“We’re glad to have Broc back with RCH for 2015,” said Carmichael. “We were really happy with the progress he was making last year. You could see his confidence building as he got better every week. We all know he got hurt in Toronto but, up until then, he put together some solid races and had the finishes to show for it. We’re looking forward to having him around this year so he can finsh what he started last season. I know that’s at the forefront of Broc’s mind, as well.”
