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BLAKE BAGGETT
450 SX / A2
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Syncing up with his teammate Davi Millsaps, Blake Baggett was the other Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM rider to dominate the gate at Anaheim 2. Not quite as tall as Millsaps and unable to stretch out the extra inches, Blake had to fight Brayton for rights to the first turn but it was Baggett winning the battle and fol- lowing Davi to start the five-minute countdown. Settling in second place, Baggett followed Millsaps closely over the course of the next four minutes. As the time entered the final minute, Baggett only a second off the lead, the speed of Tomac was beginning to knock on the door of riders up front. As the white flag flew, Tomac had officially found Baggett and the battle was on. The riders crossed
the finish line to start the last lap and Blake looked back as the two scrubbed
the over/under jump. Despite the pressure, Baggett’s last lap was flawless and Tomac couldn’t make a move in time. When the checkers flew, the KTM’s lead wire-to-wire with Baggett taking 2nd behind Millsaps.
Jumping into the main event, Blake got another good start by rounding out the top five through the first turn. The KTM was hooking up nicely for Blake all eve- ning and didn’t disappoint when he needed it most. Faltering on the opening lap though, Baggett dropped outside of the top ten after losing spots to Chad Reed and Eli Tomac. Fortunately, Baggett took note of Tomac’s lines and pushed by
the #3 on the second lap of the race, moving into 10th. The move he made only lasted a couple laps due to a mistake by Blake that pushed him back three spots to 13th. Now behind fellow KTM rider Davi Millsaps, the two worked together to get around Dean Wilson who dropped from 11th to 13th after team Rocky Moun- tain got by him five minutes into the race. Riding in 12th behind his teammate, the race entered the second half and nearly the entire field was handed two posi- tions, moving Baggett to 10th by the time the race was finished. Blake had picked up 11th with a major crash that ended Ken Roczen’s night and earned 10th when a big mistake caused Malcolm Stewart to drop outside the top ten. All in all, it was Baggett’s best finish this season and gains the new #4 some momentum as the tour hits round four next weekend.
72 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 22, 2017