Page 60 - ISSUE32

GAVIN FAITH
ARENACROSS
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Gavin Faith did his job as the defending series champion and
kept the red plate holder honest with some blinding speed in prac- tice, setting the second fastest time overall on the day. Faith looked practically unstoppable in the first heat as he got off to a blinding start and took the win ahead of Blose. He carried whatever momentum he had gathered into the Head 2 Head challenge as he swept all three of his races and took the optimal amount of championship points up for grabs in a hurry. The Babbit’s Kawasaki rider was able to best Stein- ke, Lamay, and Owen on his way to a flawless victory in this dueling and grueling portion of the event. Things began to go off the rails
for the defending champion when the gate dropped on the first main event; he was involved in a crash on the opening lap after the whoops section that relegated him to the back of the pack. Therefore, Faith was playing catch up throughout the entirety of the main. He was able to make up five positions in under half race distance, but the damage was already done with the disadvantageous track position. Faith was able to salvage an eighth place finish, but it’s nowhere near where he expects to be after showing race winning speed the entire night. The second main event was more of the same as he grabbed the start and threw it away within the first couple laps. A crash relegated him
to the back of the pack and it was damage control from that point on- ward, eventually working his way back up to eleventh position. Keep an eye out for Faith to be on a mission in Baltimore as he’ll be looking to rebound back to the top in an attempt to show his championship calibre grit.
60 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 15, 2017