Page 36 - Issue-48

AARON PLESSINGER
250 MX / 3RD
IMAGE / CAVAZOS WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / WILSON
>> To remain at the forefront of the field, one must always be willing to push the envelope. Constantly searching for an edge to go further and further, as the evolution of both time and craft will absolutely never stop, and as we’ve seen in the past, techniques will always improve. In the 1980’s, textbook traditions of braking, and cornering were a mainstay; then nearing the 90’s era, you had guys such as Mike LaRocco defying all odds, and hitting jumps such as the leap. And then there was MC, layering SX tracks with incredible precision, followed by RC with his ungodly training routines, and Bubba with his absurd amount of pure talent, and scrubbing skills. Professional’s of today have to embody all of that, and riders such as Aaron Plessinger have been groomed by his forefather’s since the day he began to compete. It was time to show his out-of-season studying, and put his true knowledge to the test, as the series heads into Hangtown. During practice, he was showing signs of brilliance, allowing the machine to hit the plushest of strokes following each downhill, into the adjacent right-hander’s. Grabbing the clos- est gear when coming out of the turn, he was shifting the weight to the back end rather well, pleasing both mechanic and team owner; his laptimes in the 2:12-2:13 range for the majority
of practice. As they loaded the gate for moto number one, he felt empowered, strong, and ca- pable, of completing the task he sat out to do. Launching out of the gate, he quickly picked up third, fourth, and even fifth gear for just a split second, as the funneled into the opening lanes. Already pulling tearoffs over the inaugural tabletop, he landed and was forced to set a feverish pace; and he did. Running across the stripe in fourth, he was chasing rookie Sean Cantrell, dancing around uncharacteristically; the elder of the two would make the move with maturity. He was feeling solid as the laps began to chip away, lap traffic beginning to play a factor, slicing through the uphill rollers and hugging the insides whenever he was allowed to. With the num- ber 26 at his tail, he would go on to finish a solid third for moto number one. Time to lock and load once again, this time, albeit fatigued, he was ready for a repeat performance of the first round. Dictating a blistering pace from the get-go, he was launching off every miniscule step down with pogo like reflexes, battling his way through the top of the field. Showing no signs of falling off, he kept pushing through the chop, turning his toes inward and squeezing the life out of the gas tank; the team rallying for him to hold on strong. Fighting his way with the top five, chasing Alex Martin, and battling with Adam Cianciarulo for a bit as well, his skills were really beginning to shine. Dethroning position after position, his smile gleaming under the helmet, he would pop out of the gulley section one last time, a slight flick to the right over the final tabletop, down the straightaway, crossing the checkered knowing he’d secured third overall, with a fifth place in the second moto.
36 GRITMOTO • MAY 21, 2017