Page 67 - ISSUE2GRIDFINAL

ATLANTA! A!
BENJAMIN SMITH
ROAD ATLANTA
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declared himself as one of the main contenders for the victory from the very first wave of a flag at the opening round of the season at Road Atlanta. The Pennsylvanian was able to lay down the fastest time of the first practice session ahead of his Quarterley Racing/On Track Development teammate, Draik Beauchamp, with a 1:50.287. He went on to vastly improve upon that time in qualifying as he maintained his position at the front of the field with a 1:48.295, claiming pole position without a doubt in his mind that he was the fastest rider in the field. It’s also worth noting that he was able to record
a majority of his fast lap times with a clear track ahead of him, proving that he doesn’t need to use drafting technique to find a couple of extra tenths. In the first race of the weekend, Smith utilized pole position to execute a great start, maintaining the lead throughout the first four laps of the race. He came under pressure from the #690 of Alex Dumas at the midway point and the two of them duked
it out for the lead, swapping positions back and forth lap after lap, but the Pennsylvanian cemented himself at the front of the field with only a couple of laps to go and built a small advantage of almost two seconds ahead of his rivals. Smith set himself up for a comfortable victory, his first in the class, as he carried his momentum from the start of the weekend directly into racing action.
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