Page 63 - OCTOBER-2017

KILPATRICK
Casey Cochran has had an outstanding 2017 season thus far, starting the season off with a solid collection of hardware throughout spring nation- als. The Georgia native won a title at both the Millcreek Spring Classic as well as the Daytona RCSX, and he also earned four overall podium finishes at the JS7 Spring Championship. Most importantly, Cochran put it all together at the big show in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee in order to
win his third Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championship. He has spent the majority of the season balancing seat time between his Cobra
65 and his RM85, and the 2017 iteration of the Baja Brawl was no different as Cochran was set
to take on the competition in both classes, es- tablishing himself as a favorite for the win every time he lines up on the gate. The Team Dunlop Elite rider could hardly have asked for a better weekend at Baja Acres, winning a pair of titles in his respective 65 classes in addition to a second place overall finish in the 85 (9-11) Limited class. He encountered some poor luck in the 85 (9-
13) class, struggling with minor bike issues and crashes at no fault of his own. Nonetheless, it was still a successful weekend for the rider out of Moto X Compound as he backed up his results at the Ranch with a continued sense of improvement on the motorcycle. The competition in the 65 (7-11) class had no answer for Cochran and his Cobra machine as he stormed to three uncontested moto victories throughout the weekend. The Georgia native nailed the start in all three races, placing him in the top two right off the bat. He proved to be an unstoppable force with a clear track ahead of him, setting the fastest lap time of the race in two out of three motos with exceptionally dominant performances that left his competition looking for answers. He almost put together another trio of victories in the 65 (10-11) Limited class, but a sec- ond place finish in the second moto prohibited him from attaining another undefeated record. None- theless, Cochran still clocked the fastest lap in
two out of three motos, establishing himself as the class of the field yet again on the 65cc machine. The Team Dunlop Elite rider also stepped it up on the Suzuki throughout the weekend of racing at the Brawl, scoring a pair of third place finishes in the 85 (9-11) class on his way to a second place overall behind his Team D Elite teammate, Nick Romano. His consistency throughout the first two motos put him in a solid position for the overall podium, although a poor start in the third and final moto left him at risk of losing the position. The Suzuki rider put his head down throughout the early laps, charging to sixth from an eighth place start, therefore salvaging the overall podium result to cap off an awesome weekend at the Brawl.
CASEY COCHRAN
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