Page 54 - Issue 79

DYLAN MERRIAM
450 MX / 9TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Privateer rider Dylan Merriam is on a mission to make a name for himself this outdoor season. The second-year pro hailing from southern California has been battling right around that top ten position in all four motos so far this season. Merriam, pitting under the TPJ/Fly Racing banner, has shown ashes of brilliance dating back to last year but they never really materialized to a good result. His career best nish entering this season was a sixteenth, but he immediately bested that at Hangtown with a fteenth overall. He upped the ante at his hometown race at Glen Helen last weekend and nished the rst moto in ninth place. By far his best career moto nish and it looked like he might notch a top ten overall, but a series of crashes forced him to DNF moto two. Those second moto mistakes red him up and he was determined to put together two solid motos at round three here in Colorado. Merriam enjoyed a pretty ef cient pair of morning qualifying practice ses- sions. He managed to log the thirteenth quickest lap time making him one of the fastest privateers in the class heading into the motos. Known for his exceptional starts, he knew he’d have to nail a couple perfect ones being high up in the altitude against the factory machines. Merriam executed an excellent start to kick things off in moto one. He rounded the rst corner right around the top ve putting himself in a great position. He held his own on the rst lap and ended up securing the green ag in ninth place. This is right where he left off a week ago at Glen Helen and he was determined to keep it up. He clicked away lap after lap and made sure no one would get the chance of chal- lenging him for the position. His endurance was so strong that late in the moto he nearly made a run at Nicoletti for eighth, but he simply ran out of time. He nished another very impressive ninth place, but he could not get too happy because his job was only half way done. Merriam got another great start in moto two and crossed the rst turn in fth place. Once again, he battled it out and held strong up there rounding lap one in ninth place. He looked poised to have a similar performance
to the one he had in moto one but a couple mistakes on lap two cost him a few positions. He got passed back to eleventh by Cade Autenrieth and Brandon Scharer. Merriam didn’t sweat it. He trusted his ability and endurance and went to work settling back into a strong pace. He ate away
at the gap between he and Autenrieth and then made the pass happen on lap ve. He got himself back up into tenth and rode out a very consistent moto. He was a few seconds behind Scharer for most of the moto but just could not nd that edge to get up there and challenge him. He was quick enough to distance himself from everyone else though, so he would bring it home with a tenth-place nish. Merriam’s 9-10 moto scores would be enough to earn him a whopping career high ninth overall. He is proving to be the best privateer in the 450 class this season and with the plethora of injuries to riders on factory teams, don’t be surprised if you see him under a factory banner at some point this year.
54 GRITMOTO • JUNE 3, 2018