Page 20 - ISSUE _38

JASON ANDERSON
450 SX / 4TH
IMAGE /MPG WORDS /HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Jason Anderson came into Atlanta feeling good after three straight solid performances in which he finished with two fourths and a third. It was his best string of races of the year but he despite that, he still feels like he has plenty more in the tank. His speed has been there on a consistent basis but his poor starts have severely hurt him when it matters most. He has left himself and all his fans wondering how he would do if he actually started up in the top three or got
a holeshot. Tired of always fighting from behind, Anderson was ready to reverse things here in Atlanta.
Anderson had some rare struggles in the qualifying practices only able to throw down the ninth fastest time. He did not seem to mesh well with the red Georgia clay but was ready to adapt come race time. To his dismay, he kept his trend
of poor starts going when the gate dropped in his heat race. He crossed the finish line with the green flag in seventh place and would only be able to pick up one spot throughout the race forcing him to have to try to advance to the main through the semi. Anderson finally nailed a holeshot in his semi and led it wire to wire holding off a feisty Eli Tomac to the finish. He showed everyone he could get a holeshot in the semi but could he show us he could do it in the main? Unfortu- nately, we will have to find out the answer to that question next week in Toronto because Anderson suffered another poor start in the main. Because of that
poor start he got mixed up in a log jam in the nasty sand section which slowed him down even further. He crossed the line in eleventh just behind Tomac on
the opening lap and quickly started to charge forward with the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider. In just a matter of five laps he had already hopped to sixth place. He had lost tail of Tomac just a bit but soon locked his eyes with his old rival Cole Seely. The two exchanged a quick battle before Anderson made the pass for fourth stick. From there he would take it all the way to the checkered flag collect- ing his third fourth place finish in the past four races. Yet again he has left us and himself wondering what we could be missing if he nailed a nice start in the main event.
20 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 26, 2017