Page 26 - Issue_67

DEAN WILSON
450 SX / 7TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Being so near to the ocean, the aura of sea-life and saltwater loom over the area at all times. The ocean provides a habitat for numerous types of animals, with any and everything you could imagine residing from the deepest points of the water, to the sands of the shore. It’s an atmosphere of alphas, the king’s of the sea preying on anything they decide to feast on. Supercross, especially this year, plays a striking resemblance to that; as it truly is a survival of the ttest, with a battle of both attrition and endangerment from competitors coming to play. Dean Wilson isn’t scared of anything in this environment, and relishes with danger coming near. It could be seen in practice whenever a rival was close by; as anytime they inched near, he would begin to dart away, really chomping onto the throttle with violent tenacity. It would be the same in the heat race, after disaster would strike early on, and force him to be hovering near the line of quali cation. It was far too close for his liking, as a last lap battle with Chad Reed, saw him bouncing his way through the dangerous rhythm section frantically; it was all he could do to hold on, but in the end, he would bring home the ninth place ride. It was almost a magnetic effect of the ninth place posi- tion, as he was around the spot in the early portions of the moto. Battling with ev- eryone’s favorite foe in the early going, Vince Friese, the two would swap paint, with Justin Hill joining the battle mid race. His lanky frame would really come into play,
as the front end would oat through the sand; and his legs would keep the chas-
sis along the straight and narrow. Malcolm Stewart, an amateur rival of Wilson’s, would lay just ahead as the laps dwindled. Mustering all of the strength he could, from his native Scottish roots, he would attempt to throw out every technique in the book. Both inside, and outside, along the start stretch sweeper, his 450 wanted to unleash; and with a stab of the clutch, his limited amount of fear showed he wasn’t there to mess around; the 27 still sat ahead though. It wasn’t enough to get around the Florida native, and subsequently, seventh was what he would have to live with for the evening; not too bad considering the quali cation process he had endured.
26 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 25, 2018