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NICK GAINES
250 MX / 14TH
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> Traders Racing Yamaha rider, Nick Gaines, has put in the work necessary to compete outdoors in one of the most demanding disciplines that motorcycle rac- ing has to offer. He’s had a successful round 1 and followed it up with another solid round 2 of the 2017 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Season. Coming off the 15th place finish in the first round, where he made it known he was improved from last season, he matched his finish the following weekend. It wasn’t an easy task by any means. The first race of the day didn’t start well. A bad start landed him well outside of the top 20. He was all the way back in 23rd after 6 minutes into the race. He was able to dig deep though and make passes on his competitors. He climbed 8 positions over the last 22 minutes of the race. An impressive feat considering that other riders were having trouble moving up a single position. Moto 2 started better for Gaines, as he was inside of the top 15 in 13th place af- ter the first lap. Like most of the field he had to play it smart and not ride above his head or push his bike into failure. He held his position all the way past the halfway point before losing two spots. As the day went on, more and more rid- ers made mistakes but Gaines kept it smooth and insured himself a solid finish. Nick has obvious top 15 speed and it will be interesting to see if he can improve into a top 10 rider over this season.
88 GRITMOTO • MAY 28, 2017