Page 80 - ISSUE 40

MIKE ALESSI
450 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Coming as a bit of a surprise, Mike Alessi didn’t get out of the gate for heat two in his usual fashion, settling into 9th after the first few turns. Battling with Justin Bogle, Alessi slid back to 10th, momentarily, before the two riders sliced through the pack in front of them. Within half a lap, Bogle and Alessi found themselves in 6th and 7th respectively before Justin got around Vince Friese for 5th. Just as it seemed the #800 could make a push for 4th and a ticket into the main, he kept falling backward, getting passed by Tickle a few turns later, now in 8th. Alessi stayed on Tickle for the next few laps, even getting back by for 7th but was only able to hold on for a couple turns before the #20 got by for good. From there, Alessi held onto 8th ahead of Jake Weimer until a mistake on the last lap allowed Dean Wilson to pass both riders.
The move pushed Alessi to 9th for the finish. In his semi, again struggling out of the gate, Mike had to squeeze in on the inside to fight for position coming out in with a respectable 6th place before getting by a fallen Catanzaro and Justin Bogle; mov- ing into 4th by the end of lap two. The remaining four laps proved to be fruitless as Alessi remained stationary and held the 4th place spot into the main event, avoiding the desperate last chance qualifier. In the final race of the evening, Alessi came out of the gate strong, working for an 8th place spot as the main got underway. Shuffling back and forth early on, Alessi moved around within the top ten over the course of the first half of the race. Battling, again, with Weimer, Alessi ended up on top of the tussle for 7th by the end of lap seven. Getting by Reed on lap nine as the veteran was getting back on his bike, Alessi, at one point, sat in 6th but on lap ten, Mike slowly started losing ground. Reed got back around, then Dungey’s charge proved to be too much for Alessi as he sat back in 8th on lap twelve. Continuing to lose juice, the old rival of Alessi, Josh Grant, got around him on lap fifteen and then the late race speed of Baggett finally pushed Alessi to 10th, where he would stay for the checkers. Having only found the top ten once so far this season, the finish was a step forward for the Alessi camp as the tour continues into round 11 next weekend.
80 GRITMOTO • MARCH 12, 2017