Watanabe Withdraws from Final Round and Ranks 45th Overall
The CycleTrader/Rock River/Yamaha team’s Yusuke Watanabe crashed and suffered an injury at the Budds Creek National, Round 11 of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. The Japanese rider was aiming to race the final round of the season in Indiana, but after undergoing further medical checks, the decision was taken to withdraw from participation. This season, Watanabe scored his first AMA points at Round 5 in Florida with a 19th place finish in the first moto, and he finished 20th in the first moto at Round 9 at Washougal to score an additional point, completing his second season of AMA competition in 45th overall.
Yusuke Watanabe
“Thank you to everyone who helped me with my second season racing in the AMA Nationals this year. I wanted to do all 12 rounds, but as you all know, I was injured at Budds Creek. I was sad and regretful that I could not race in the last round, but I really learned a lot and grew as a rider this season. Thanks to Doug for always giving me the right advice and training, and thanks to Yamaha and all my sponsors and supporters for giving me this wonderful experience.”
Doug Dubach, Rider Coach
“As a result of last week’s crash, Yusuke couldn’t compete in the final round of the AMA Nationals. His condition is improving each day and he plans to return to Japan tomorrow. I believe he will be back riding and training within a couple weeks. I think this was a great experience for him and that he gained a lot of racing knowledge over these 12 events. As in any racing series, he had good and bad weekends. He was able to earn points at two races this year and was also able to improve his time attack position substantially throughout the year. His speed and maturity were evident in the second half of the series. I want to thank everyone that helped put this program together for Yusuke; I really enjoyed watching him grow each week!”
