Although Bobby Kiniry broke his hand, and Matt Goerke and Kyle Chisholm missed the main event by one position and two positions respectively, it was a successful outing for TeamRockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha at the MEC Supercross in Las Vegas this past Saturday.
While Team Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha will not be campaigning the supercross series, the opening round in Vegas was part of a goodwill ambassador week for team owner Andre Laurin and team rider manager Iain Hayden in the American West.
“We usually deal with our sponsors over the phone or by email and sometimes it’s nice to be able to actually sit down with them and chat person to person. The Vegas Supercross also presented us with an opportunity to strut our stuff, as we were there with our full rig and gear,” Laurin said. “It was a good feel for everybody involved and a nice way to put a period on the dirt bike aspect of our company for this year and start focusing on the Canadian Snowcross Nationals, which start next month.”
With the best American supercross riders present for the first event of the 2014-2015 AMA Supercross Championship, the competition for a slot in the main event was brutal and not for the faint of heart. Kiniry, Chisholm, and Goerke put on their race faces and while it looked like they were going to squeeze into the main, when it came to push and shove they came up just a bit short. Kiniry was looking good to win his LCQ, when he clipped a hay bale, went down hard and broke his hand.
“It was kind of cool for us to be part of that environment as a team to introduce our new rider, Matt Goerke, and launch our Pirelli Tires and ODI Handlebars sponsorships. The whole exercise in going down to Vegas was to spend time with all our American based sponsors and get an early handle on the 2015 CMRC Motocross Nationals,” said rider manager Iain Hayden. “It was a lot of fun. Although the results didn’t necessarily reflect it, the boys rode well and we came very close to qualifying.”Goodwill Ambassadors at Vegas Supercross