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PHIL NICOLETTI
450 MX / 9TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Just when Phil Nicoletti thought he shook his old nickname “Fill-in Phil”, it made an appropri- ate return in the days leading up to the opening round of the outdoor motocross series. After riding the 250SX West Coast Championship with JGR Suzuki this year on a Supercross only deal, the team decided to bring him on to race select rounds with the team aboard a 450 to ll-in for the injured Justin Bogle. Nicoletti has had great moments in the class and with the team in
the past so the t was perfect, not to mention he rode for them for an entire Supercross season already this year. Nicoletti lined up at Hangtown determined to throw down an impressive nish to try and pressure into the team keeping him on for the entire season.
Nicoletti rode well in the morning qualifying practice sessions. The rider originally from New York was able to put forth the tenth fastest lap time of the class. He appeared as if he had been racing a 450 all year long. He looked comfortable and poised to do battle in a deep 450 eld.
Nicoletti got things going in the opening moto of the year with a decent eighth place start. He took advantage of his teammate Weston Peick making a mistake in another battle and passed him to move into seventh on lap two. Nicoletti looked strong up there and moved up even further into sixth after Christian Craig went down. He held it before Peick passed him back for seventh on lap ve and then Blake Baggett would also pass him sending him back to eighth on lap six. Nicoletti stayed steady there for a few laps but the remounted Christian Craig would bump him back to ninth around halfway. He held it down in ninth all the way to the nish all while not letting Craig get too far away.
Nicoletti kicked off the second moto strong with a great holeshot. Nicoletti is no stranger to notching good starts and he held his own up at the front of the pack. He would end up rounding lap one in third, but things started happening too fast. Roczen passed him on lap two, Weston Peick and Marvin Musquin passed him on lap three, and then a handful of riders passed him
on lap four sending him all the way back to ninth. Just when he thought the tough times were over, Craig came through and pushed him back one more spot to tenth on lap ve. Here Nicoletti nally stopped the hemorrhaging and started logging consistent laps. He rode out most of the rest of the moto there in tenth but was able to pass a oundering Ken Roczen with just a few laps remaining to end up nishing again in ninth place. Nicoletti’s 9-9 moto scores earned him ninth overall on the day and the team has to be more than happy with his strong top ten performance.
54 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2018