Page 40 - mpg-august

theGRIT
Lance Kobusch had a handful of 2nd place finishes on the week and succeeded in being incredibly consistent in all of his motos except one. The Missourian managed to get good starts in both of his Supermini 1 motos, putting himself in the top 3 on the opening lap. Both motos were relatively uneventful, as the track
was super treacherous due to muddy conditions in the second moto; it was more important to ride a mistake free race. Kobusch settled
in behind fellow Kawasaki rider and eventual class champion, Seth Hammaker, and rode a calculated race to finish the race safely in 2nd position. Unfortunately, a crash that he had in his first Supermini 2 moto would be the determining factor that influenced his entire week; Kobusch experienced a hard impact in which he hit his head, but attempted to keep on racing and salvage points. A couple of laps after the incident, he experienced a bike malfunction and had to walk back to the pits with a DNF in the first moto. He was devastated to lose the title in such heartbreaking fashion and collapsed to the ground in a valiant display
of raw emotion, another reminder of how much sacrifice is made by the participants of this sport. Kobusch wouldn’t be able
to race the final two motos of his respective classes for medical reasons, but he still showed that he has speed to match the best of the
best in the Supermini class and he’ll be back fighting for wins in no time.
words/LAKEKILPATRICK
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MPG • AUGUST 2016