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JOSH GRANT
450 SX / A-1
IMAGE / MPG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Fresh off of double ankle surgery in the offseason, Monster En- ergy Kawasaki veteran rider Josh Grant was ready to prove to the sport that he regained a little extra bounce in his step. Grant pro- vided us with a great story last year basically coming off the couch to come race and immediately put in top ten performances. Those rides were good enough to convince Monster Kawasaki to pick him up and keep him on for 2017. Once he recovered from the ankle surgery, he was able to put in some training so many in the industry were excited to see what he could do with some prep before A1. He started off his day with a quality qualifying effort notching the eleventh fastest time just a second and a half off of the leaders.
He would make the proper adjustments before the races began
to try and chip off some of that time. Unfortunately, two bad starts hindered him in his heat and semi races and he couldn’t really get the ball rolling and he had to try and get into the main event by way of the LCQ. He would finally nail a start and easily win and transfer to the main event. Grant had a tough gate pick for the main event but he still managed to come around lap one in eleventh place with rookie Cooper Webb nipping at his heels. The duo would maneuver around a downed Blake Baggett on lap two and each move up a spot. As the race went on Grant slowly distanced himself from the rookie and would eventually pass Chad Reed around the midway point to bump up to ninth. He set his sights on Peick in eighth but simply ran out of time and had to settle for the ninth position. A solid result for the vet but he has to be a bit upset with the quality of his starts. Look for him to improve on them next weekend in San Diego.
68 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 9, 2017