James Stewart made a solid return to racing in RedBud over the weekend, riding smart and landing himself on the podium. Image: Simon Cudby.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart admits he was not at 100 percent coming into the motos at round six of the 2012 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Champion at the infamous RedBud facility in Michigan over the weekend.

After suffering a wrist injury at round three in Colorado, Stewart made an attempt to ride round four at High Point, but was unable to race safely.

Taking two weeks away from the bike to rest, the former-champion returned with a conservative approach at RedBud.

Stewart qualified second in the hotly contested 450 Class, but as he began the first moto reality hit and the realisation of not being quite race ready set in for the number seven.

Although after riding smart and within his limits, the former points leader still managed a third overall on the day.

“It was an eventful day,” said Stewart. “I was second fastest in practice, but in the first moto, I realised I wasn’t quite 100 per cent, but I still wanted to try and have a decent moto.

“After one crash and a stall, I ended up sixth. In the second moto, I came from 10th and made my way up into third and just sat there.

“But it was good to be racing again, the Yoshimura Suzuki team was working hard and the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 was running great. The fans at RedBud are awesome and I was happy just to be back racing. Now I’m looking forward to Millville next weekend.”

Stewart now looks forward to the seventh round of the 2012 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship on 14 July at the Spring Creek National in Millville, Minnesota.