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COLT NICHOLS
250 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> Colt Nichols’ hot start to the 2017 outdoor series has cooled off in recent weeks. After four top sevens in the first five races, he proved to be one of the more consistent riders in the mostly inconsistent 250 class. However, in the two races since then he has finished thirteenth and ninth overall. Still solid re- sults but we had just gotten used to seeing him be a top five threat every moto. He entered Millville coming out of the break prepared to get back to nailing great= starts and great results. Nichols had decent qualifying practices emerg- ing with the thirteenth quickest lap time. The track was extremely deep and
wet from the rain in the week leading up to the race. It cleaned up nice for the races and was more than ready for Nichols and the rest of the field to do battle. When the gate dropped in moto number one, it saw Nichols suffer a subpar start. He appeared out of the opening lap in thirteenth place. He put his head down trying to steer clear of the sandy roost and went after the front pack of riders. He slowly but surely inched his way up to tenth about halfway through the moto. The pack thinned out once he got there and he rode a lonely second half of the moto. On the final lap he would end up picking up one more spot due to Chase Sexton going down. Ninth place finish was solid but he still wants a little bit more. The second moto did not see Nichols improve on his start from the first moto. This time he began even further back in sixteenth position. Dur- ing the opening laps he engaged in battles with Sexton and Lorenzo Locurcio. Once he finally broke free he found himself sitting in thirteenth. And that would be as far as he would be able to go as he settled in throughout the second
half of the moto to finish in that thirteenth position. His 9-13 moto scores would earn him tenth overall but leave him starving for more. He wants to get back to flirting with the top five and he’ll give it another go next weekend at Washougal.
74 GRITMOTO • JULY 23, 2017