Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart made the best of unfortunate circumstances at round three of the AMA/ FIM World Supercross Championships when the series returned to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, on Saturday night.

Still recovering from a knee injury incurred at round one, Stewart turned in impressive qualifying times and a solid heat race before tangling with another rider and going down in the 450 Supercross Main Event.

Race day started strong for Stewart, who qualified third fastest on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450. Likewise, in his eight-lap heat race, the talented rider got a good start and rode a consistently-fast pace to finish second. In the 20-lap Main, however, Stewart overcame a bad start and had moved into the top 10 when he came together with another rider several times and ultimately went down. But he remained undaunted, rejoining the fray dead last and working his way through the field to finish 12th.

Said Stewart: “The day didn’t go the way I hoped it would, but it started out good and the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 was working great in qualifying and my heat race. But in the Main, I got a bad start and then I got tangled up with another rider a couple of times and I fell over the second time. It was frustrating because I felt good going into the Main Event. Now I’m just focusing on Oakland next weekend, I like racing there and I’ve done well there in the past, so we’ll see if we can’t turn things around.”

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Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next event is the fourth round of the 2013 AMA/ FIM World Supercross Championship on Saturday, January 26th in Oakland, California.