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JEREMY MARTIN
250 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / LANNAN DESIGN / WILSON
>> After winning the championship in both 2014 and 2015, Jeremy Martin’s dominance was halted after struggling with injury and illness in 2016. His recovery has been inevi- table as he has always been known as one of the hardest workers and he settles for nothing less than the top spot. In the past, few have matched his motivation and fitness and he was ready to get back to his old self when the 2017 season began just a week ago. Unfortunately, Hangtown did not go as planned with a DNF in the first moto, but his second moto performance put him on the rest of the field’s radar. The old Jeremy was ready to get his season on track when the day began in SoCal. The Glen Helen course was exactly like Martin liked it, rough, tough and fast. When the gate dropped for the first 250 moto, Jeremy got a perfect jump and began to let the Geico Honda eat. As the Glen Helen soil was served off the rear wheel to the riders behind him, Jeremy continued to pull away as the bikes thundered down the long straightaway. He rounded the first corner with a comfortable lead and the rest was history. He rode a near flaw- less race from start to finish and took the checkered flag with ease. A relieved Jeremy was ready to end his day strong. In the Next moto, Jeremy had no problem replicating his magnificent start from the first one. He led the pack through the first few sections and was looking to run away again. Then, disaster struck Jeremy as his back end got loose going up one of the freshly watered hills. He found himself wrestling with some banners and it took a bit to get back going. Fortunately, he was uninjured and began his comeback from dead last. He was now showing his resilience once again. Slicing and dicing through the pack, Jeremy was sitting an incredible 15th place by lap five. Riders who had beaten him over the past few months inside the stadiums were now only small obstacles for Jeremy as he flew around them. After another 5 laps, Jeremy was inside the top ten and still was not done. He was now only a few positions away from clenching the overall. As the other riders began to feel fatigued, Jeremy was only warming up. After slightly battling with McElrath and Mosiman, he was now sitting an incredible 7th place behind Austin Forkner. After one last push, Jeremy decided to play it safe and he cruised into the 7th place finish. Combined with his first moto win, he would take 2nd overall at Glen Helen.
32 GRITMOTO • MAY 28, 2017