Page 54 - ISSUE88

BLAKE BAGGETT
450 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Blake Baggett showed us a true glimpse of the old El Chupacabra in the second moto last weekend at Budds Creek. He put on an impressive late moto charge to the front and although he came up short of the win, he moved up to second, spoiling Ken Roczen’s desire for an overall victory. Baggett looked like his old self again after strug- gling for most of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross campaign. I guess he has not been strug- gling but he just has not met the high expectations that were set after his best 450 su- percross season to date and a great run in the outdoor championship last summer when he was still healthy. So, with one round to go, Baggett was ready to carry the momentum from Budds Creek and nish the season with authority. Baggett had a little bit of trouble navigating the wet, rainy conditions in the lone qualifying practice session. He couldn’t lay down a heater and would escape with the twelfth fastest lap time of the class. That didn’t matter much to him though as he was still ready and con dent heading to the motos. Moto one started off miserably for Blake Baggett. He crashed on the opening lap and his bike was completely stuck in the mud. It took him an entire lap to lug it out of the deep and thick mud. He stopped into the mechanic’s area to get the bike straightened out and he reentered the race a lap down. He had nothing else to do other than put
his head down and keep grinding forward. And despite being so far behind to start the race, he managed to claw his way all the way up to sixteenth place. Not a good result on paper but the effort and energy expended to gain that position cannot go unnoticed. Still, he was looking for a much better moto two. Baggett got off to a much better start
in the second moto. He came through lap one in ninth position, but he didn’t stay there long. He passed Chad Reed and Isaac Teasdale on lap two to hop up into seventh. He stalked Tyler Medaglia for the next two laps before working his way around him and also Phil Nicoletti on lap four. This put him up to fth and that is where he would ride the rest of the race. He would ride out the race with no one ahead of him and no one behind him nish the moto in a lonely fth. His 16-5 moto scores earned him tenth overall for the day. I’m sure he would not have liked to end the season with a season low nish but that will only add more fuel and motivation for next year.
54 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 26, 2018