San Manuel Yamaha SX Team Preview

Fighting in the blue corner and representing San Manuel Yamaha for 2011 will be 2009 SX Champ, James Stewart, and youngster Kyle Regal. Stewart will form the backbone of the Yamaha crew for the next two years after penning an extended deal with the San Manuel team. Last year the team’s hopes were quickly dashed when Stewart suffered a broken wrist. However, in 2011 the 25-year-old from Florida returns rested and carrying a renewed outlook on the sport of Supercross after logging some significant couch time.
 
“I'm in a totally different place in my life,” said Stewart. “Not even just racing, just where I'm at in my life. Yamaha is the first company I've been with that lets you be yourself. It's weird because the last couple of years I've kind of been, you know, keeping it corporate. Yamaha is always begging me to be myself so we had some fun times doing this and it worked out."

Stewart struggled immensely in 2009, and his last racing appearance netted a measly 3-35 result at the Unadilla MX circuit. After the exit of trainer Aldon Baker and some additional program changes the Yamaha corner appears to be positioned for a strong return during the opening round at Anaheim. Also armed with a Yamaha YZ450F, Regal will race full time in the premier class for the first time in 2011 after posting excellent results in the ’10 outdoor series. Only his third season in the pro ranks, Regal was hand-picked by Team Manager Larry Brooks and may offer surprising results in the coming season.