James Stewart will make his return to racing this weekend at Hangtown. Image: Simon Cudby.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart will return to racing when the 2013 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross season commences at Hangtown on Saturday, 18 May.

Stewart sat out the final three rounds of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season with a tweaked wrist after a mixed season aboard the RM-Z450.

Since then, he took some much-needed time off to recover and came back with a vengeance, focusing his considerable efforts on training and testing on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450.

“After Minneapolis when I hurt my wrist again, it was a struggle,” admitted Stewart. “With trying to rehab my wrist, I decided to take the last couple of rounds off and be as close to 100 percent as possible for Motocross.

Even though Supercross didn’t go the way I had planned, I fell in love with my Yoshimura Suzuki team and I had a great time. We had some ups and downs, but we also had some great moments, whether that was winning or just accomplishing a goal together as a team.

“I was definitely bummed to sit out, but that gave me a chance to take a break, rehab my wrist and get ready for Hangtown. Last year, we came into the series and I only had a few days on the Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 and now I’ve had a few weeks.

“I love racing Motocross, it’s got a more relaxed family-oriented atmosphere, there’s more time to focus on bike set-up and the racing is really fun. I’m looking forward to Hangtown and to the whole season.”

By the conclusion of the 2013 Supercross season, Stewart had captured the win at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, becoming one of just three racers ever to go nine straight seasons with a win.

Additionally, he raced his Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 to podium finishes in St. Louis and Indianapolis, won eight of his heat races and was the fastest qualifier at seven events.