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JUSTIN BOGLE
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> 2017 has been quite an up and down year for RCH Yoshimura Suzuki’s Justin Bogle. The Oklahoman product could never really get the ball rolling in Supercross with only two top tens on the entire season. However, when the outdoor season began, things started to change for the better. He nailed two top tens at the first two rounds and then followed those up with a surprisingly dominant first moto win at Thunder Valley. It was the first of his career and we were wondering if there would be more to come but he has struggled to find that speed since. He has had great rides here later in the season but the results haven’t shown that. With two rounds left and no guaranteed ride for next season, Bogle is going to have to put on a show and impress the Factory teams.
Bogle hit the historic Budds Creek course early in the morning for qualifying practice and looked
as smooth as ever. The track was deep from rain the night before but he emerged with the seventh fastest lap time. He has been great off the start all year long and he was raring to do so again at the start of moto one.
When the gate dropped for the first moto, it saw Bogle creep his way through the first turn and into third as they took the green flag. He made quick work of Matt Bisceglia on lap two to take over sec- ond and then set his sights on early leader Martin Davalos. With the title contenders Baggett, Tomac and Musquin all suffering poor starts, Bogle knew he would need to pass Davalos quickly if he wanted a win. He’d do just that a few laps later after pressuring Davalos into a big mistake. He took over the lead and slowly started to build up a lead. Late into the moto it appeared Bogle had the win in the bag but then Musquin came knocking. Musquin was putting on a huge late race charge and made Bogle do everything he could to hold him off the last three laps but Bogle would prevail and take the first moto win, the second of his career.
Bogle entered moto two with the overall in mind and that showed when he ripped the holeshot to start the race. This time he had Baggett right behind and the two would battle hard. Bogle was able to hold him off for the first four laps before Baggett made his way by. Two laps later Tomac would also get around sending Bogle back to third. After getting passed by those two riders, Bogle did not mess around and found another gear to hang with them for a while and he nearly passed Baggett back midway. But as the moto went on Bogle slowly lost touch with the two leaders but he would hold onto third all the way to the checkered flag. His 1-3 finishes would be enough to earn him his first overall victory of his entire career including both 250 and 450. It was a big day for him and will certainly have grabbed the attention of the factory teams.
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GRITMOTO • AUGUST 20, 2017