Page 35 - OCTOBER-2017

KILPATRICK
CARTER BIESE
Carter Biese experienced a tumultuous journey throughout the 2017 racing season that finally culminated in his first Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Motocross National Championship. The Wisconsin native had an injury scare in April, nearly tearing his ACL, and experienced heat exhaustion during July that only allowed him to ride for five days out of the entire month. The teenager showed up at the Ranch with significantly less riding preparation than he planned, but he faced the obstacle head on and pulled off an overall win in the 125cc (12-16) B/C class and a third place overall in the Schoolboy 1 class. His success on the TC125 has given him some confidence following his results at the Ranch, allowing him to place some of his focus on coming to grips with the 250 at the Baja Brawl. Biese signed up to race 125cc (12-16) B/C as well as Schoolboy 1 on the Husqvar- na TC125, and decided to take on 250 B and Schoolboy
2 in his first major race on the bigger bike. The Wisconsin native proved his prowess as a sand rider on the opening day of racing, finishing all four motos on the podium with a pair of wins on the 125. He was able to secure the holeshot in both motos with Tyson Johnson closely in tow, but it was apparent that Biese had a slight speed advantage over his rival. The Husqvarna rider clocked the fastest overall lap time in both races, eventually carrying on to a sizable vic- tory in both classes. He was equally impressive in the 250
B and Schoolboy 2 divisions, considering it was his first big race on the TC250, coming away with two solid third place finishes. Biese was just a hair off the pace of the leaders in both classes, but he had the speed to fend off the rest of the competition for the podium, providing him with some con- fidence heading into the second and third motos. Sunday started with a bit of misfortune for the #243 after he experi- enced some mechanical trouble with the 250, forcing him to back out of the final three motos. Nonetheless, he grabbed another podium in the Schoolboy 2 class and proved himself more than capable on the larger bike with only an hour of seat time coming into the event. It was a bittersweet situation, but it allowed him to readjust his focus to 125 classes. Biese wasn’t able to continue his streak of hole- shots on the 125 and found himself in third place at the start of the second Schoolboy 1 moto. He became entangled in a battle with the Rides Unlimited KTM of Kaed Kniffing for the majority of the race, allowing Johnson to take advantage of the clear track ahead of him, and take off for the win. On the last lap of the race, the Wisconsin native forced his way into second place, but the gap was too large to overcome and he was forced to go back to his motorhome and regroup. It was business as usual at the end of the day in the 125cc B/C (12-16) class; another holeshot and another moto win for the Husqvarna rider. Biese reclaimed his consistency
on the final day of racing and put together a flawless pair of motos to negate any battle for the overall that his competi- tion may have had in mind, clinching a pair of number one plates in order to back up his extraordinary performance only a month ago at the Ranch.
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