Page 110 - ISSUE_44

Chase Marquier
250 SX / 21ST
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KUHLHOFF DESIGN / WILSON
>> The pressure was on in Washington this weekend. Cold con- ditions and rainy forecasts created a change in scheduling that would prove to be a true test for the riders. Oklahoma native, Chase Marquier lined up for the first heat race of the night. Right away, the number 99 machine looked confident. Many of the riders had not done any of the triples in the rock and rut infested rhythm sections because of the single ten-minute practice session, so they had to really pull the trigger and hammer down on the first lap if they wanted one of the top nine transfer spots. Around the three- minute mark of heat one, Chase found himself in seventh place, a great transfer spot. He was soon passed by Martinez and sitting in eighth place by the end of the race. Chase was heading straight
to the Main Event. The only constant was change in Seattle this weekend: changing weather forecasts, changing racing schedules, changing track terrain, and a changing of rider mentality being the most important one. Chase Marquier was not allowing all of this change to phase him early in the evening and he was definitely prepared to be a top ten contender in the Main Event. Marquier lined up for the Main Event. Thirty, twenty-nine...ten, nine, eight... three, two, one...gates drop and racing is underway. Immediately, Chase Marquier finds himself in an awesome tenth place spot off the start. Unfortunately, change continued to be a theme in Seattle when everything changed in an instant for the Honda / Proven Moto rider. After a bobble by Chase, he was landed on by Noah McConahy. This resulted in both of the riders being down and out as well as a red flagged race.
110 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017