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MARTIN CASTELO
250 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Martin Castelo can easily be found if you’re ever in the state of California as he is al- ways at a local track such as Lake Elsinore putting in motos to better his results on the weekend. Castelo has upped his program in 2018 and a lot of that has been because he was selected to become part of the IBCorb Yamaha racing team. The team is man- aged by world known BadA** Ryan Hughes (Ryno) and since Castelo has been under his wing the hard work has yet stopped. The results haven’t necessarily been the best this year as Castelo has only made four out of a possible nine main events thus fair this season. That doesn’t mean he isn’t trying hard or the speed isn’t there. More often then not the #137 Yamaha rider is in a qualifying position and makes a error that pumps him out, or a crash puts him out of the night program. Luckily the Ecuadorian just keeps go- ing back to the practice facilities and continues to grind out the season.
The none stop grind has de antly helped Martin achieve some goals this season as he nally put it all together at Round 16 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Castelo struggled a bit earlier on in the day qualifying 25th with a 54.067 which was over 5 seconds slower then the leaders. In his heat race Castelo was out of a qualifying position and in 10th after the opening lap. Castelo got tangled up with Mitchell Harrison on lap two and put Martin back in 17th and 15 seconds out of a qualifying position. The man from Ecuador worked tiredlessly to get to the top 9 but could only manage 10th and was headed to the last chance quali er. It wasn’t looking good for the Yamaha rider when he came around turn one in 13th in the LCQ. It didn’t take long for the #137 to make his way through the eld and when it was all said and done he nished a strong 3rd. @mcastelo_ started dead last in the main event but was 15th after lap one. The Yamaha rider battled back and forward from 12th-14th for most of the main event but his none stop practicing pulled through late in the main event as he was able to outlast his opponents and out survive the other riders on the treacherous track.
56 GRITMOTO • APRIL 29, 2018