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BRADLEY TAFT
250 MX / 15TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> After a brutal brain injury in supercross, Bradley Taft was forced to take a lot of time off to recover. It was so severe that he could not sleep for about three days and he struggled to remember anything five days after the injury occurred. He would take the time to heal completely, knowing the risk of further injury was so great. He made his healthy return at round two of the outdoor series at Glen Helen. He impressed with his raw speed and ended up with a sixteenth-place finish and backed it up with a seventeenth at Thunder Valley. However, since then, he has only had one top twenty so entering Millville, he knew it was time
for a change. The wet, muddy track in qualifying practice caused Taft to struggle quite a bit. Usually quick in qualifying, he only escaped with the twenty-seventh fastest lap time. The track would dry up before the races began so he would be much better suited came race time. When the gate dropped in moto one, Taft headed out to a solid start. He got the green flag in twelfth place and looked spry. He eased up to eleventh in the opening laps but would suffer a big mistake on lap five. He slid back to fifteenth and then on the following lap he failed to come around. He was forced to exit the moto due to the big mistake and he would officially end up thirty-sixth. The only positive from that is that he would be much fresher than the rest of the field for moto two. Taft got another average start in the second moto rounding lap one in fifteenth. He immediately went to work
as he jumped up to eleventh place by lap five. It was arguably the best he has looked all season and he was not done yet. He’d work around Nick Gaines just past the halfway point to hop into the top ten in tenth. He stayed charging and picked up one more spot after Harrison went down with two laps to go. Taft would slide into ninth and bring it home to the checkered flag. It was the best moto fin- ish of his career by far. He would go 36-9 for fifteenth overall which would be his best on the year. He must be bummed knowing if he stayed going in moto one he very well could have had his first top ten overall. Look for him to ride this wave of momentum into Washougal.
88 GRITMOTO • JULY 23, 2017