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JESSY NELSON
IMAGE/JACKEDWARDS
Jessy Nelson came out of the gates flying at Anaheim 1 and came up just short of winning the opening round of the 250 West series after succumbing to a late Cooper Webb overtake. Nelson was happy with the result and made sure to clarify on the podium that he wouldn’t make the same mistake again in the
second round. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it to the second round after a practice crash during the week sidelined him for the remain- der of the SX season. Although he didn’t suffer any serious injuries, Nelson was extremely banged up and the team decided it was best if
he sat out until outdoors. Expect him to start at Hangtown just as he did at Anaheim after having the advantage of preparing for outdoors much longer than most of his competition. The TLD KTM is a rocket off the line and his starting technique is one of the best in the class. He will have his bike set up dialed in, not to mention he will not have the same transitional stage between Supercross and Motocross that most other riders will be experiencing. The two disciplines of racing demand vastly different techniques, rhythms, and training routines. Nelson also favors the west coast tracks that open up the series; he fought for the podium last year at Glen Helen in the AMA series and he completely dominated the MXGP race in the fall. He’s also managed to finish on the box multiple times at Thunder Valley, so don’t be surprised if he’s within a shout of the points lead as the racing heads east to High Point. Not only can Nelson ride the hard packed west coast dirt, he actually earned his first ever moto victory in the mud in 2014 in Indiana (which doubled as the TLD KTM team’s first ever outdoor victory.) There’s a lot to fight for among the team this outdoor season, both Nelson and Justin Hill are coming off of SX injuries and they will be looking to put the budding talent of Shane McElrath back in his place. All three of these guys will be sitting on the line at Hangtown telling themselves that they’re the top rider on the team, but only one of them will be able to call themselves such at the end of the season.
38 GRITMOTO • MAY.23.16
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