Page 33 - MPG17

theGRIT
As it came as a surprise to everyone, all bets were hesitant with the Nevada skies clouded in grey instead of the usual start of summer sunshine. For Craig, the night seemed to have high hopes though, despite the weather, as Christian qualified 2nd out of the fifty-seven invited riders. When the gate dropped on the west coast heat, race number one of the evening, Craig’s pace seemed to
be mediocre. He got off to a 7th place start and maintained the same position behind Cooper Webb for the first three laps of the race. It wasn’t until lap four that Craig performed any type of movement when he passed Jimmy Decotis for 6th where he would finish out the heat before getting ready for the main. It was the weather that must have took the race pace out of Craig, though, as the night continued to deteriorate the course and hurt Craig’s chances at contention. When the main started, it didn’t seem too bad with Chris- tian being one of the front running west coast racers that littered the lead pack early on. Crossing lap one in 5th, the night began to get bumpy for Christian as he faded back to 9th quickly. Lap three saw Craig turn around the backward momentum and head in the right
direction around opposite coast teammate, RJ Hampshire, and then miraculously b
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Craig seemed to plateau in failing to push further forward over the next six laps.
a
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ck into 6th by the start of lap four. Maintaining 6th,
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