Page 98 - Issue_39

VINCE FRIESE
450 SX / 16TH
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / ECKERT DESIGN / WILSON
>> Sitting 15th in points, Vince Friese has made every main event this season. The Missouri MotoConcepts rider rode into Toronto this past weekend realizing the streak and pushing to make it 9 in a row. Having qual- ified 13th with the 7th gate choice in heat two, Friese moved into 4th place out of the gate as the final heat of the night was officially underway. Friese lost a couple positions in the first lap mayhem but only dropped to 7th where he sat behind Broc Tickle for the entire first half of the race. With Tickle peg deep in a battle for 5th with Justin Barcia ahed of him, Friese was left alone in 7th, although Brayton back in 8th was beginning to tighten the space. Fortunately for Vince, Brayton made a huge mistake on the last lap, easing the pres- sure on the #61. Finishing in 7th wasn’t enough for Friese, though, as shortly after the checkers he found himself lining back up for Semi #2. He mustered a holeshot but the lead didn’t last long as Tickle got by over the rollers out of the first turn. Pushing hard for the rest of lap one, Vince entered a chess match for 2nd with Justin Brayton, trading spots multiple times. Vince, even with plenty of effort, came out on the losing end of the match to find himself in 3rd, getting more pressure from 4th place rider Josh Grant. As the race reached its final stages, Friese ended up giving up 3rd to Grant and stumbled even further when Cole Seely made it by for 4th. Holding the final transfer position with time running thin, Friese made it into the main by the skin of his teeth.
Continuing the success out of the gate, Vince jumped out to an outstanding 4th place start in the main. In turn two, Jason Anderson cut in from the outside on Friese and ended up making contact. Friese kept the bike upright but managed to lodge his peg inside the front wheel of Anderson, forcing the Husqvarna rider to pull off for a wheel change on the opening lap. Despite their history this season, this incident seemed to be purely accidental. Pushing it behind him and moving a bit further into lap one, Friese’s luck took another negative turn as he got taken wide in the berm after the whoop section. In an attempt to remount, Friese gets clipped again by Ryan Dungey and is forced back to the ground. As a result, Friese kissed his solid start goodbye and the MotoConcepts rider was now in 21st place. Never giving in, Friese pushed forward and made his way by Adam Enticknap for 20th and a minute later, #61 was in 19th by Cody Gilmore. On- wards and upwards, Vince moved even further up the ladder about eight minutes into the race, getting by Nick Schmidt for 18th. Five minutes later, after closing the gap on his counterpart Mike Alessi, both riders got by Kyle Chisolm and began a team battle for 16th place. With five minutes left, Friese made the move and it stuck, as the #61 locked in the position for the remaining laps. With an extremely tough first half of the race, the second half showed the determination and will of Friese wanting to move towards the front. With the result, it’s hard to say if Vince would have been able to keep the bike up front for the entire twenty minute race but if one thing is for sure, Friese looked strong in Canada and could be looking to heat things up in Daytona next weekend.
98 GRITMOTO • MARCH 5, 2017