Page 52 - Issue_67

JUSTIN BRAYTON
450 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Justin Brayton showed ashes of speed throughout the opening stages of the season, most no- tably excelling during the Triple Crown at Anaheim II with a fourth place overall nish. Four rounds have passed since that Saturday night in Angel Stadium and Brayton has yet to work his way back into the top ve, coming off of a tenth place nish last weekend in Arlington. He put himself near
the same position after qualifying subsided in Raymond James Stadium, nishing as the eleventh fastest quali er heading into the night show. In the second heat race, Brayton grabbed a solid start aboard his MotoConcepts backed Honda, setting into fourth position behind the Factory HRC ride of Cole Seely. Brayton attempted to stick to the rear fender of his fellow red rider for the opening portion of the race, but an unfortunate crash by Seely in the long rhythm section would bring the race to a halt and promote Brayton to third position. Due to a certain percentage of the race already being completed before the red ag, the riders were positioned in a staggered line along the straightaway in order to restart the race. The Iowa native was able to maintain third position for the majority of the race following the restart although he lost touch with Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac out front. Brayton held strong in the nal podium position, but he began to receive pressure from the JGR Suzuki of Malcolm Stewart. He wasn’t able to hold off the advances of the Floridian and was forced to concede third position, dropping him to fourth place just before the checkered ag. Unfortunately for him, Brayton wasn’t able to nd the same fortune out of the gate that he did in his heat race, starting well outside the top ten at the beginning of the main event. The MotoConcepts backed Honda rider settled into fteenth position on the opening lap of the race and did his best to keep his focus forward, setting his sights on the Suzuki of Kyle Cunningham. Brayton made quick work of FXR tted rider ahead of him, easily moving into fourteenth position on the second lap. The Iowa native’s progress stagnated for a short period of time, but it wasn’t long before he disposed of Ben Lamay in order to take over thirteenth place. A couple of laps later, the veteran put a move on the temporary Monster Energy Kawasaki rider, Tyler Bowers, promoting himself to twelfth place in the process. Brayton’s sights were clearly set on the top ten, but he didn’t have an easy task ahead of him. He received a bit of luck in the form of a mechanical failure for eleventh placed Chad Reed, promoting him onto the cusp of the top ten. As the clock neared the ve minute mark he closed in on his teammate, Vince Friese, hounding his fellow Honda rider for tenth position. He made quick work of his teammate and kept charging forward, but a late race pass by Blake Baggett would demote Brayton to tenth position at the nal breath of the race. Despite an underwhelming night for the defending Australian Supercross Champion, he still heads to Atlanta tied for fourth position in the overall points standings.
52 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 25, 2018