Page 58 - Issue_sixtyfive

DEAN WILSON
450 SX / 9TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / LANG DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Round six of the Monster Energy Supercross series was a step forward for Rockstar Husqvarna’s Dean Wilson after a misfortunate start to the season. It’s no doubt the big crash at Anaheim not only hurt Dean Physically but mentally as well. Every rider on the starting gate knows how to deal with physical pain and can seemingly ride through it, but the mental side of things is much harder to over come. A rider like Dean who has suffered many injuries has got to be asking himself “why me?” in these situations. Nev- ertheless, Wilson has been down this road before and knows how to rebound. Show- ing speed early in San Diego, Deano was back and forth inside the top five in daytime qualifying. After some last minute heaters from other riders Wilson would end up 8th fastest, but certainly looked like the Dean we saw before his crash. A mid pack start in Heat race #1 had Dean searching for new lines as he needed to make his way through the pack and into a transfer position. Positions 6th-10th were bunched up for a few
laps as everyone was fighting for position and did not want to end up in the last chance qualifier. Just as Dean was moving forward, he would come together with Cycle Trader Yamaha’s Alex Ray in the whoops. Getting up quite fast, Dean got back in the race and was now in 14th place with 3 minutes plus 1 lap to go. Wilson put the hammer down and made a last lap pass for 9th and transferred directly into the Main event. The final race of the night started of hectic when HRC Honda’s Ken Roczen and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac collided in the first corner causing a domino effect. Four or so riders ended up going down, but Wilson luckily rode around the outside and missed
all of the carnage. Starting his race around 13th, Dean quickly moved up to 10th and hovered here for the majority of the race. Moving backwards to 11th, then forward to 9th, back to 10th, then back up to 9th after riders inside the top ten juggled positions, Wilson ended the race in a season best 9th place overall. If Dean keeps getting top ten finishes and builds up some confidence, I would not be surprised to see him land on the podium before the season comes to an end.
58 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 11, 2018