Page 16 - ISSUE_55_final

BLAKE BAGGETT
450 MX / 4TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / TILLS
>> With the X-Games recently concluding in nearby Minneapolis, many of the state’s natives have been bitten by the adrenaline bug, and are itching for more spectacular action to feast their eyes on. When viewing the field of the 450 AMA Pro Division, which rider always seems to captivate fans, almost creating a simultaneous bond just by his riding style and racing an- tics? None other than Blake Baggett. Although he wasn’t practicing backflips, his corner speed in practice was unreal. Wrapping the corner before the mechanics area on his footpegs, the balls of his feet on maximum exertion, he was gripping the shroud’s with every ounce of being he could muster; all the while launching off the next single into the following straightaway.
This performance translated into the following gatefall, as he beelined down the start stretch, sticking his inside foot out, all the while keeping his right elbow bent to the lowest degree. He wanted these positions, you could almost feel it when watching his erratic movement all over the machine; as he was just trying to stay low. Hovering near the eighth position for a while in the first moto, his stamina was beginning to blossom in front of the crowd, as he would slowly work his away around riders as their heart rate’s would climb. At times fourth gear through the notorious rollers, he was bouncing every which away around the circuit, but it wasn’t bother- ing him at all. Trailing amateur for Justin Barcia for quite some time, he would end the moto in sixth. Time for another place of redemption, and the California native would take full advan- tage. Third just behind Marvin Musquin for the opening laps, they would work their way around the number 19 of Justin Bogle. It was hear that Baggett would do everything in his power to overtake his KTM counterpart, but the Frenchman was just not having it. Outside to his inside, pegging the BTO ride a mere half second longer going into each respective sweeper; every move Baggett made, Musquin was up’ing the ante just a bit more. He actually would throw
the fastest lap down of the moto, but to no avail, he would trail the number 25 by about fifteen seconds at the checkered flag. Taking second for the moto, and fourth overall.
16 GRITMOTO • JULY 23, 2017