Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s James Stewart celebrated two stunning holeshots and a solid third-place overall result at the season-opening round of the 2013 AMA Pro Motocross Championships at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Sacramento, California, on Saturday.

After missing the final three rounds of AMA/ FIM World Supercross series due to injury, Stewart returned to racing with a vengeance over the weekend, demonstrating tremendous speed, discipline and consistency and racing two very smart motos: In both 30-minute races, he took the holeshot on his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and got out-front immediately. In the first moto, he led briefly before slotting comfortably into third. In the second moto, he stepped it up and led the first five laps before again finishing third. The two combined results handed the Yoshimura Suzuki rider third-place overall.

Said Stewart: “I ended up going three-three for the day and I’m really happy about it, especially considering where we’ve been for the last six months. With my knee and everything else that happened, I just wanted to come out of Hangtown with a top five. After the first moto, the third place was good and I got both holeshots on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450, which was pretty cool. So I was happy with third overall. I’m really happy with ‘three-three’ to start the season off. Next, we’ll go to Colorado and focus on getting better each weekend.”

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Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s next race is round two of the 2013 AMA Pro Motocross Championships on Saturday May 25th at the Thunder Valley National in Lakewood, Colorado.