Page 140 - Issue-35

AJ CATANZARO
250 SX / OKLAND
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / LANNAN DESIGN / WILSON
>> Aj Catanzaro is a man on a mission this year. The Blue Buffalo Yamaha rider is riding faster than ever and is excited to be on the new ride. AJ
has been putting the bike in the Main Event and is looking to continue the improvement through 2017. He was once a top 10 contender in Supercross and is doing everything he can to get back to that point. It was evident that he is trying hard when practice began in Oakland on Saturday morning. The rain was temporarily on hold and AJ was able to put in some solid laps on
the fresh track. When the second session rolled around, the rain began to fall. AJ dug deep into his talent pool within and found an insane amount of confidence in the slick conditions. He nailed his lines perfect and looked very fast. So fast in fact, that AJ would clock a very impressive lap time that was good enough to take the second fastest spot going into the races!! AJ lined up as the #1 gate pick for 250 Heat 1 and was steaming with confidence. As the riders took off the line, he was determined to put his Yamaha into the lead and he did just that. He led many of the top riders around the moist track and was looking fast. He led for nearly half of a lap until Reardon made a pass. AJ then made a run through the whoops and was able to demand the lead back with a clean block pass before the triple. Reardon would pass him back in the next whoop section and AJ would go on to finish a commendable 3rd place. When the Main began, AJ was ready to show that he meant business, as he was able to avoid the carnage in the first couple laps and maintain his spot inside the top 15. He continued his charge forward and was running
a very impressive 12th place by the end of lap four. On lap 8, AJ made a mistake before the steep double into the sand and was forced to roll it. Josh Hansen went for the jump and as AJ was coming up the landing, the two tra- jectories collided as Hansen’s back wheel slammed down on the front of AJ’s bike. AJ went flying into the air and his night in Oakland was over. Fortunate- ly it looked like he got the better end of the deal as he stood up on his own. Hopefully he is ok and ready to bring some confidence to next weekend.
140 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 5, 2017