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DEAN WILSON
450 SX / 8TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / LANG DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> It seems like every weekend we lose more and more riders due to injuries. Unfortu- nately we can add round seven to the list of races that left riders in the Alpinestar Medic Rig, as the ever-changing Arlington Texas track jumped up and bit a few riders. One rider who stayed safe all night though was Rockstar Husqvarna’s Dean Wilson. Dean mentioned last year that he was going to slow his pace down slightly and ride a bit more cautious to make it through an entire season. Once he made it through the entire 2017 season, he came out swinging full force at Anaheim one. Although showing race win- ning speed, he ultimately ended up crashing violently and again took a step back. Ever since then Dean seemed to go back to the 2017 mindset (ride fast but not careless) and has been steadily progressing towards the front. With riders dropping out of this series like ies, Wilson could nd some success in the next few races. This weekend in Dallas Stadium was another step forward for Dean. Ripping out of the gate in his heat race and running the pace of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, Dean was going fast and looking very smooth. Holding down 2nd for most of the race until getting passed
by his teammate and points leader Jason Anderson, Deano tucked in behind Anderson and nished out the race in 3rd. The 450 riders get the luxury of racing the track right after the 250 SX riders race a 15 min plus 1 Main Event and boy was the track in rough shape. Coming around the rst turn around 10th, Deano had to battle the riders around him along with the track beneath him. Swapping positions back and forth between JGR Suzuki’s Malcolm Stewart and MCR Honda’s Justin Brayton, Wilson hovered around
the 8th position the entire race. A late race charge from Red Bull KTM’s Broc Tickle made Dean pick up the pace on the dangerous rutted track. With only 2 laps to go Dean dropped his lap times, weathered the storm and nished 8th place overall.
56 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 18, 2018