Page 38 - Issue_72

JUSTIN STARLING
250 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> When you think about Seattle, many are quick to think of a hot cup of java, a morning cup of coffee that tastes oh so wonderful to the taste buds. It’s an energy boost, an immediate dump of caffeine into the bloodstream of millions, with that ever so delicious coffee from Starbucks. It’s here, that the company was founded, and it’s almost as though many in the area are somewhat of a
feign, for that adrenaline boost. We may have just the x, however, with the Monster Energy AMA Supercross tour rolling into town. These guys live for that heightened sense of alert, the roaring of engines sending chills up their spine. It’s what gets Justin Starling out of bed in the morning, and what has provided him a life-long full of passion, since his days of childhood. He was willing to seize the moment in Seattle, coming out like a rocket for the qualifying session. Hopping every triple on the second lap, he would throw a bit of leg swag to the crowd, truly displaying his level of comfort, to not only the crowd, but his competition as well. The heat race would echo much of the same mantra, with a stylish tearoff being pulled over his most climactic point in the air. He quickly found Aaron Plessinger to hook onto, albeit extremely brie y, and be pulled from by the hitch effect. He kept the pace, mimicking some of his lines, even trying the inside rut before the whoop section. He would come into the bit of start straight on the last lap, sitting second where he would stay, waiting for the battle that was yet to come. He was fresh out of the launch pad, with a full stack of clear vision, which would quickly vanish in the rst few laps. He was elbow to elbow with Mitchell Oldenburg, trying his hardest to create some type of advantage. Upon landing the triple closest to the mechan- ics area, rather than railing the outside, and sling-shotting across the start, it was a full-on dive to the inside, his inside leg tucked upon landing. It was the little things that were keeping him a oat, throughout this rugged course of a layout. He would come into the nal laps, hovering near the fth place area. His pitboard, a pallet of encouragement, had him pushing when he no longer thought
he could. The checkered ag would be right on the edge of his nger tips, and blipping the last bit of throttle for the nal time, he would come across the line fth, eager to get to the next round.
38 GRITMOTO • APRIL 8, 2018