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WESTON PEICK
450 SX / 6TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> With a stadium as large as the one the eld is competing in this weekend, you have the ability to really let your machine open up, and test the true variables of both speed, and airtime. The work begins in the shop, with mechanics ne-tuning these machines, day after day, in hopes of providing the ultimate bike, for their rider to compete on. Weston Peick and his crew have worked tirelessly to get to this point in the season, and you can truly see the amount of faith he has in machine, trusting those around him. They were spinning wrenches and adjusting clickers, all throughout the duration of the practice ses- sions. It was though he would spin a few laps, come in and chat, make an adjustment, and improve. It was a true showing of active listening, with the changes made, generating to positive results. It would replicate itself in the main event, as he launched off the start line, yet still showing that the machine had more to give. Near the top ve in the early going, his mechanic could be seen telling him to “SPRINT”, reiterating the notion of how short, this respective part of the triple crown was. Wheel tapping before the rst SX triple, you could tell he and the track were on the same page. It was Blake Baggett at his rear fender, but no sign of fear crept through the body language of his jersey. He would nish fth. It was as though he’d just cooled down, by the time he got on the gate for the second main event, and as he crested the nish for the opening ag, he would look ahead, eyeing the leaders. Coming down the start straight, it was all he could do to keep the sternum over the bar pad, trying his best to keep the beast tamed. The rear wheel, beginning to spin out of some of these turns, forced him to keep the throttle tamed, lugging the chassis down. It was just he and Marvin Musquin, in hot pursuit of the nish line. He was riding exceptional, but the number twenty- ve had a bit too much; therefore this time around, his nish would be a solid third. It was just one main event, between he and the conclusion
of the night. His effort was there from the get go, battling with the likes of Tomac, to stay aboard inside the meat of the top ve. All seemed to be well, until a washout in a right- hander had the pack swarm, and move on without him. He would try his best to ght his way back, but the damage had been done. He would hit the nal double, triple combina- tion before the nish line, with all kinds of speed; the chassis seemingly slamming into the face. It was all he could do, to resist the anaerobic function of arm-pump, but he somehow continued to breathe. He would hold, nishing eleventh, and sixth overall.
22 GRITMOTO • APRIL 15, 2018