Page 116 - Issue34

AJ CATANZARO
250 SX / AZ
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / WILSON
>> After a slow start to the series due to surgery to his acl af- ter the Monster Energy Cup, AJ is fully committed to the west coast series aboard his blue buffalo yzf250 machine. When the series heads to the east he will compete in the 450 class on his Pilgrim Powersports/ East Coast Fiberglass Kawasaki machine, which he is more comfortable on. Catanzaro was lucky enough to get support to race the west coast series with good equipment allowing him to get that extra race time that will help him when the series hits the east.
After a pair of 20th place finishes and a DNQ Catanzaro has to be pleased with his improvement in Phoenix. The #95 Yamaha rider has been known to get good starts and he was able to come around the first turn in 2nd behind Nicoletti in heat #2. Catanzaro lacked intensity and made a bunch of mistakes but was able to put his head on straight on the final lap to hold on to a direct transfer to the prize show. When the main started AJ seemed to be doing a lot of moving, some- times he was dabbling towards the top 15, sometimes mov- ing back to outside of the top 20. AJCat was able to get 17th which is his best finish of the year.
116 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 29, 2017