Page 100 - Issue-35

DAN REARDON
250 SX / OKLAND
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Dan Reardon’s return to the United States has gone well for the most part. The Aussie from Queensland has had very solid main event performances in three of the five races so far. He’s consistently been in the middle of that top ten but has yet to put all the pieces together to bust into that top five. Crashes and mistakes have held him back but he tried to break that mold this weekend in Oakland.
Reardon, like always, performed well in practice en route to secur- ing the eighth fastest lap time. He then would kick off his race day by drilling the holeshot in his heat race. He tried to take advan- tage of that clean real estate in front of him but 250 class veteran Martin Davalos spoiled the party and stole the lead away after
a few laps. Reardon held on for second but he had to feel good about leading some laps for the first time in over half a decade. He wanted to carry those good vibes right on into the main event.
For just a moment, it looked like Reardon indeed had those good vibes with him in the main event because he nailed a good start but he would get collected in a second turn crash and get pushed way back. After lap one he was in last place. Such a bummer for the veteran Aussie rider as he seemed to have such a great night going but he was able to salvage it just a bit and ride hard to a twelfth-place finish. He’ll have one more shot to crack that top five next week in Dallas before the series heads East.
100 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 5, 2017