Page 20 - mpg-august

theGRIT
The second Open Pro Sport moto was far
and away the worst performance of the entire week for Taft; he didn’t get off to one of the spectacular starts that facilitated his results throughout the week. Instead, he crashed on the first lap and had to fight all the way back from a 45 second deficit to the leader, buried in 32nd position. It took him a couple laps
to catch the tail end of the field, but he was able to work his way up to the top 20 by the sixth lap. Taft made some late passes and left himself too much work to break into the top
15, finishing in 17th place just behind Ashton Hayes, the spearhead of Suzuki’s rejuvenated amateur program. Taft redeemed his result from the second moto with a solid performance in the last Open Pro Sport race, he started off in 3rd place early on and held his position for most of the race. McAdoo led the race early
on and began to drop back through the field; he lost positions to Cantrell, Taft, Sexton,
and Locrucio in a matter of two laps. Taft was engulfed in a battle for the podium and just as easily as he was able to get by McAdoo, he was passed by the charging Honda of Chase Sexton as KTM’s Sean Cantrell escaped at the front of the field. Taft wasn’t able to match the pace of the two battling for the lead, but he put in solid laps on a track that was rougher than any other point in the week to end his 2016 Loretta’s effort with another brilliant podium finish.
words/LAKEKILPATRICK
20 MPG • AUGUST 2016