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THOMAS RAMETTE
250 SX / 9TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / PINTOR DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> The snow continued to fall onto Minneapolis, Minnesota as Supercross was underway
for round fourteen. With the streets coated in a uffy white blanket of frozen precipitation the indoors of the U.S. Bank Stadium was packed with soft sand, and luscious dirt ready to be rutted and tore up by the best racers in the world. One of those racers was Thomas Ramette. Ramette brought his Yamaha 250 to Minneapolis to battle with the best racers in the world in the 250 class. The French rider quali ed earlier in the day with 51.506 seconds per lap land- ing his in the 7th best spot for the rst gate drop of the night. As night fall begins in the Mid- west Ramette and his mechanic make their way to the starting gate. The thirty second board is up and then the gate slams to the dirt and Ramette powers his Yamaha to the front of the pack. Carnage is in turn number one, but Ramette slides through without incident. He holds onto third coming onto the track. Jeremy Martin is on a mission though and passes Thomas. Ramette has company behind him with only ve minutes left on the clock. Sean Cantrell
and Zach Osborne and nipping at Ramette’s rear tire. Thomas falls into sixth place as both Osborne and Cantrell push their way to the front. Only two minutes to go for main event one and Thomas continues to push his Yamaha through the complex track. Both Rodriguez and Mosiman shove Ramette out of the way putting Ramette into the eighth position. Checkered ag and Thomas nishes the race in eighth place. A short break and Ramette gets geared up again to battle for the second time at the U.S. Bank Stadium. Eyes locked on the gate, the board drops and so does the gate. Thomas releases his clutch and ies out off the start. Turn one and he sits in fth place. Right on Jeremy Martin’s rear fender and trying to hold onto fth place Ramette continues to push his Yamaha to its limits. Only three minutes to go and Ra- mette goes down causing him to fall back into 16th. Able to salvage one more sport Thomas gets fteenth for main event number two. One last break and Ramette gets ready for the nal 250 event of the night. Locked and loaded Ramette watches as the gate falls into the dirt. Not able to pull off a seamless start like the earlier races Thomas is midpack sitting 14th for the holeshot. Gaining two spots right away Ramette is in 12th as the race continues on. Charg- ing hard Ramette places himself in eighth. One lap to go and John Short makes a pass on Ramette leaving him in ninth. Ramette will nish in ninth place at the last triple crown event.
52 GRITMOTO • APRIL 15, 2018