Twisted Tea H.E.P. Motorsports Suzuki’s Max Anstie took his Suzuki RM-Z450 to his career-best 450 class finish in the Monster Energy Supercross Championship at Arlington, Texas at the weekend.
Round twelve, the third back-to-back race at the AT&T Stadium, saw the British rider in just his fifth SX race since pre-season injury finish 13th aboard his RM-Z450 while teammate Brandon Hartranft put in great starts on his Suzuki RM-Z450 to good use.
Anstie launched off the gate in his heat race and emerged from the first corner in second place. From there, he battled up front for a direct transfer to the main event.
His start in the main didn’t work out the same, but the 450SX rookie steadily clawed his way forward through a pack of more experienced Supercross racers and on a track considered by most to be more challenging than the riders had seen for several rounds.
Anstie earned his career-best 450 class Supercross finish, topping even his Daytona result, which shows fast gains in his adaptation to the indoor American tracks.
“We had a good three races here in Arlington. Today, we had our best heat race and I had a really good start and ended up seventh,” explained Anstie.
“I battled with some really good guys, and then in the main I was strong. I kept pushing and I probably had some of the best rhythm section technique that I’ve had for a while.
“We made progress, I learned a lot in these last three races and I’m looking forward to going back and doing some work for the next few weeks and getting ready for Atlanta.”
