Page 112 - Issue_39

CODY GILMORE
450 SX / 21ST
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Having raced since he was 7 years old, the #374 of Cody Gilmore has plenty of experience under his belt. Experience that has grown and matured ever since his supercross debut in 2009. Over the years, Cody has had past success at the premier level, making main events and chal- lenging for treasured points; his most successful year being 2014 and a season-best finish of 14th in Houston. Unfortunately, though, Gilmore has battled injuries the past two seasons, which forced him to miss the majority of the races. Returning to racing for 2017 and hoping to return to that 2014 form, the Kawasaki rider has had a tough year so far, only making two main events. Coming off a 20th last weekend in Atlanta, Gilmore came to Toronto with momentum on his side. In fact, when the lights turned on north of the border, the goal was a consecutive main event opportunity to keep the progress going as supercross enters the second half of the season.
Lined up for 450 heat two, Gilmore got pinched in the first turn but still managed to come out in 12th place. Struggling in his search for the race rhythm, Cody then dropped to 14th by the end of lap one. At the halfway point, still in 14th place, Gilmore found his way by Ronnie Stewart and settled
in 13th for the remainder of the heat, forcing himself into the semi’s. Finally getting a stronger start, Gilmore found himself in 9th at the beginning of heat two and ready to battle. Picking up a spot due to a fading Cade Clason, Cody reached 8th a couple of laps in but still needed a charge to reach
a transfer position. Unable to gain any ground on Enticknap ahead of him, Gilmore was left with a one final checkered flag to make the main event in the LCQ. Luckily enough, when the last chance got underway, Gilmore grabbed the holeshot with Alessi right on his rear tire. After the first few turns and being passed by Alessi early, Cody settled in and took his 2nd spot straight to the main.
With all the pressure off and twenty minutes left on the clock, Gilmore’s next mission was to top
last weekends finish. Failing to jump off the start like he wanted to, Cody was stuck in 21st on
the opening lap. Taking advantage of a fallen Vince Friese, Gilmore picked up 20th and used the momentum to grab 19th from Adam Enticknap a lap later. Once inside the top twenty, the deteriorat- ing track became tricky to navigate, hurting Cody’s chances of moving further up the ranks. Failing to make a move on Nick Schmidt in 18th, a charging Vince Friese mustered the speed after early race mishaps to close the distance on Gilmore, pushing the rider back into the 20th position. Friese kept moving forward but Gilmore was unable to latch on and the pass eventually lead to Gilmore dropping another spot to Jason Anderson in the closing minutes of the race. With the clock winding down quickly, Cody ran out of time to respond and will take the 21st with him to Florida, next week- end, where he’ll go for third main in a row.
112 GRITMOTO • MARCH 5, 2017