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MITCHELL HARRISON
250 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> The former rookie has been on a bit of a climb lately. After ending the SX season strong, Star Racing Yamaha’s, Mitchell Harrison was looking to come out swinging
in his second full 250 outdoor campaign. The season opener was a good test for Harrison. He showed that he could ride consistently inside the top 10 and finished with 9-11 moto scores for 10th overall. He even spent some time in the top 5 battling with title contender Adam Cianciarulo before succumbing to the pressures of faster riders moving through the field. That is a huge improvement from the 1st round last season where he made his professional debut finishing 16th and 20th. He would
carry his new consistency into the second round at Glen Helen. The first moto of the day brought a challenge to the second year rider, a rough start landed him mid pack around a gang of other top riders who also got subpar starts. Passes seemed tough to come by because of the pace of the field inside the top 15. Harrison ended up riding almost the entire race is the same position and finished up in 13th. Not inside the top 10 as he may have hoped but still a respectable finish. The second moto was another step in the right direction even though his start was outside of the top 10 once again but not as deep as the first moto. He didn’t have to ride from as far back in the pack and was able to latch on with the guys around him and eventually made moves from 14th all the way up to 8th before the end of the race. Late in the day he displayed that his fitness is there and that he can make improvements from moto to moto. Those are valuable weapons to have in an arsenal when doing battle in the outdoors. Expect to see week to week improvements from Harrison if he keeps his current trend.
74 GRITMOTO • MAY 28, 2017