Page 56 - Issue 79

BRANDON SCHARER
450 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Brandon Scharer is a ripper from southern California that has been tearing it up as a priva- teer during the course of his career. Scharer turned pro at the nal round of the outdoor series in 2012 and hasn’t looked back since. He raced in the 250 class from 2013-2016 and had his fair share of solid performances but was only able to net one top twenty outdoors. Once he made the jump to the 450s in 2017, he quickly started improving on that. He racked up four top twenties last season including a career best sixteenth at Southwick which is especially impres- sive because California riders aren’t typically known for their ability to ride sand. His 2018 motocross campaign has gotten off to a fast start with him nishing twenty- rst at Hangtown and then a huge career best twelfth last weekend at Glen Helen. That ride gave him a huge surge of con dence heading into round three at Thunder Valley. Scharer struggled to nd his mojo in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He ended up qualifying with the twenty- rst fastest lap time, so he knew a good start would jump start his day and force him to nd that extra speeded needed to do battle towards the front of the pack. The good vibes were not with Scharer to start moto one either as he rounded lap one buried back in twenty-seventh place. He managed to inch his way up to twenty-fourth during the rst handful of laps but about ten minutes in the race got red agged and he would have a second chance. Despite the restart, Scharer could not capitalize on the opportunity and he would emerge from the rst lap in twenty-sixth. He made some quicker moves this time getting up to twenty- rst after two laps and then nineteenth after two more laps. He continued a steady march like that forward all the way to the checkered ag. He climbed all the way to fourteenth place. A pretty impressive ride after starting from so far back but I’m sure he would not want to start back there again. Scharer got a much better start in the second moto and came out of the rst lap in eleventh position. He even moved forward off the bat passing fellow privateer, Dylan Merriam, for tenth place on lap two. He began pressuring Cade Autenrieth for ninth after that and did so for a couple laps and it pressured Autenrieth into a mistake allowing Scharer to move right on by. In unfamiliar territory this far up in the eld, Scharer looked like a season vet and acted that part. He kept Nicoletti within range the entire moto and managed to keep Merriam at bay as well. He would hold on to nish right there in ninth marking a career high by far. His overall nish would be another career high as he’d notch tenth overall with his 14-9 moto nishes. It is great seeing these privateers show the world that they’ve got some killer speed too with many of the factory riders out with injuries.
56 GRITMOTO • JUNE 3, 2018