Page 86 - ISSUE_44

JUSTIN STARLING
250 SX / 13TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ROEWER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Justin Starling took no break from racing, moving up to the 450 class while they headed East. Getting some extra practice under his belt Starling was well prepared going back into the 250 West coast rounds. With a best finish of 8th place he has a few more rounds left of the season to improve on that. Thanks to the Washington weather they were on a rain schedule leaving the riders with only one chance of timed qualifying. Starling was able to throw it down while it counted securing himself a night show spot in 17th. Heading into the heat races the Husqvarna rider got a good start right around 8th place. Bat- tling with some impressively deep ruts, considering they were only the second group on the track, Starling knew it was going to be a long night of racing. One point in the heat race he was able to move all the way up to 5th but fell back to 7th for the finish of the race. Heading onto the main event he got a really bad start that left him all the way in 18th through the first lap. With such a short main event, it was going to be rough making up all that time to the top ten. He wasted no time snagging positions from other riders, quickly working his way into 15th. Making passes all the way till the end of the race he was able to gain another two spots into 13th. It wasn’t quite the finish he was hoping for, but considering the circumstances throughout the night it was good.
86 GRITMOTO • APRIL 9, 2017