Page 104 - ISSUE_37

COLT NICHOLS
250 SX / MN.
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> The Oklahoma native is coming off and injury just before the season opener which pushed his debut with the new team back to the east coast. Nichols sprang onto the scene last season when he logged many good races for another Yamaha team last season which spurred the interest of Star Yamaha, and eventually landing him a ride with the premier Yamaha 250 team. Coming in with lofty expectations to be a title contender or at least a top 5 threat, Colt qualified 5th, which is about where he is ex- pected to be. He then had a little bit of trouble in the heat and was only able to climb to 5th. He finished 16.39 seconds off the leader but burned a good fast lap at 50.039 seconds. Not bad, but for him being a top 5 qualifier, he had the speed to finish top 3 or possibly win his heat race. Nonetheless, he was in the main and wouldn’t have an entirely bad gate pick on a track that was hard to pass on for everyone. Things took a turn for the worst when Nichols was involved in a first lap wreck with Dakota Alix, as the two riders collided exiting a rhythm section. The contact threw both riders from the bike and Colt remounted in 21st position. Things couldn’t have started any worse for the title contention hopeful. In the opening 5 minutes he was only able to make up 3 spots on the seemingly hard to pass on track. He was 18th and 40 seconds back of the leaders with 9 minutes remaining. He would put his head down and charge the remainder of the race. The track was very chewed up and challenged ev- ery rider. Colt salvaged what could have been a horrible night with a 10th place finish in the main. This isn’t necessarily where he may have wanted to be to start the season but it’s not nearly as bad as it looked as though it would be at the start of the race. He is lucky to have escaped that crash healthy enough to finish the race. He will begin the year behind the eight ball but he isn’t out of the hunt. We will see if he can right the ship next weekend in round 2.
104 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 19, 2017