Page 34 - Issue_64

JUSTIN HILL
250 SX / 3RD
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ROEWER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Justin Hill has been having a rough time getting comfortable on his new JGR Suzuki ride. As last year’s winner, it was expected to see more of the young rider up on the podium so far, this season. With all his finishes being outside of the top five Hill hasn’t been looking like himself on the bike this season. Getting some good qualifying times along the way, he has just had a hard time putting it together in the main events. For round five of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season Justin Hill qualified tenth. With some tough competition, this year he had his work cut out for him heading into the night show. Lined up and ready to go for the second gate drop of the night, Justin Hill didn’t get the best jump out of the gate and was left back in thirteenth place around the first turn. With more riders in front of him than behind him he had a lot of work to do to get into qualifying position. Quickly making moves, Hill worked his way into a transfer spot in no time. Now in the position to go to the main event, the race was about getting a better gate pick for the main. In the short amount of time he was able to steal several positions making his way all the way into fifth place. Picking up his speed quite a bit during the heat race, things were beginning to look up for the JGR Suzuki rider. As the gate dropped for the fifth main event of the season, Hill charged hard out of the gate putting himself right around 8th place through the first turn. With nowhere to go but for- ward Hill was pushing hard on the tough Oakland track conditions. Just a few minutes into the race the Suzuki rider had already worked his way into sixth and was inching
his way closer to the fifth-place rider of Kyle Chisolm. It didn’t take him too long to reel him in, moving his way into the top five. With a lot of time left in the race Hill was not giving up quite yet and was still pulling in the riders ahead of him. Over halfway through the race, the leader, Christian Craig made a costly mistake that sent Hill ahead another position into fourth place. Not longer after that Alex Martin and Joey Savatgy got into a heated battle giving him the chance to sneak up on them passing both of them for sec- ond place. Finally, up on the podium where he belongs Josh Hill was looking incredibly comfortable on the rutted Oakland track. On the last two laps of the race Joey Savatgy was putting the pressure on Hill and they began battling back and forth. Unable to hang onto his second-place position Hill finished off the race in third place. Five rounds into the season Josh Hill got his best finish of the year with a third overall, leaving him fifth in the 250 SX West Championship.
34 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 4, 2018