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BENNY BLOSS
450 MX / 7TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Benny Bloss’ rst full Supercross season in the 450 class had its fair share of up and downs. He struggled early in the year and only had one top ten nish with two rounds left. That is when the light- bulb went off. Bloss ended the year by killing it at the last two rounds with an eighth and a career best sixth at the nale in Las Vegas. It was just what he needed to build momentum and con dence heading into the outdoor series. Bloss has enjoyed numerous top ten nishes aboard a 450 outdoors over the past two years and he was looking to kick off the season at Hangtown with another one.
Bloss impressed in the morning practice qualifying practice sessions. The tall, lanky Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM rider threw down the seventh fastest time of the 450 class and that rose some eyebrows. His times were faster than some of the top factory riders and he let everyone know right away that he wasn’t going to be a slouch this season.
Fresh off the great showing in practice, Bloss kicked off moto one with a stroke of terrible luck. He got hung up and went down early on lap one. He nally secured the green ag absolutely buried in thirtieth place. He had some serious work to do if he wanted any hope of a solid nish for the day. He grinded hard in the rst few laps and had already moved all the way up to eighteenth by lap three. By lap ve, he was up to fteenth place. This is where his charge would peter out a bit because the riders he was catching were a quicker and more spread out than the riders back in the pack. This did not deter him as he kept his head down and leapfrogged four guys to move into eleventh by lap nine. His practice speed was clearly showing albeit it wasn’t in the spotlight since he was buried in the eld. He would make one more pass on Bradley Taft to take over tenth with a handful of laps remaining. He would hold the spot to the checkers in a ne performance. From outside the top thirty to tenth is a big feat for any rider but he was looking for a much easier moto in moto number two.
Bloss got a much better start in the second moto. He started in eighth position, twenty-two spots better than moto one. He set out to make the most of it. He got passed by Eli Tomac on lap two but surprised many when he latched onto the rear wheel of the defending champion and followed him forward. Bloss even stuck a wheel in on Tomac a lap after Tomac made the original pass. It was very impressive few laps from Bloss and he kept it going throughout the moto. He was up in seventh for a while before passing Roczen for sixth at the halfway point. During the second half of the moto, he shadowed the top ve and was just far enough that he could not really get involved in any of the battles. He kept the consistent pace going and ended up passing Supercross champion, Jason Anderson, with two laps to go. This gave him fth place and Bloss would take that all the way to the nish. His 10-5 moto scores would earn him seventh overall. A great result considering where he began the day. Look for Bloss to have performances like he did in the second moto all summer long.
50 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2018