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DEAN WILSON
450 SX / 10TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / PINTOR DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> The earth continues to throw curveballs at Monster Energy Supercross. From a snow storm in Indianapolis to rain in Seattle to a full on blizzard in Minneapolis, Mother nature isn’t letting down. Dean Wilson also had his own set of curveballs. Starting the supercross season strong Wilson had a promising year ahead of him, but then he
took a digger into the face of a jump at A-1. Not how Wilson wanted to start the 2018 Supercross season for sure, but determined to come back stronger Wilson headed to Minneapolis with his head held high and smiling. Riding his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Wilson quali ed with the fth best lap time of the day. This would earn him a prime gate pick for the rst 450 event. Main event number one is up. Wilson and his mechanic
set up on the gate. The board drops and the gate falls into the dirt. Wilson holds his Rockstar Husqvarna wide open and the riders pile into the rst corner. Deano nds himself midpack as they complete the rst rhythm section. The laps count on and the clock counts down. Wilson is sitting in eleventh place with only four minutes to go. Pushing himself and his Rockstar Husqvarna even harder Wilson passes Friese and Malcolm. This puts Dean in the ninth spot with only two minutes left on the clock. Race one comes to and end and Wilson earns ninth place. Ready to go at it again for race number two Dean locks his gaze on the starting gate. Jumping out of the gate Wilson doesn’t get the momentum he needs and ends up mid pack in the 13th spot. A couple laps in and Wilson nds his groove. Making two passes on both Malcolm Stewart and Chad Reed, Dean places in eleventh. Two minutes to go and Dean makes the pass
on Friese and gets into tenth place. Wilson nds Christian Craig and steals the ninth position with only one minute left on the clock. Wilson holds steady as the last lap in underway. Checkered ag is out and Wilson nishes ninth. One race to go and Wilson is locked and loaded. Set up at the start Deano focuses on the gate as it slams to the ground. The riders crunch together as they make their way into the rst corner. Wilson is in ninth for the holeshot. Wilson goes down falling back to 20th. The race is halfway over and Wilson has muscled his way back into 15th. Wilson is able to gain a couple more spots and gets 13th for race number three. After a solid night of racing and one hiccup the Rockstar Energy rider gets 10th overall.
64 GRITMOTO • APRIL 15, 2018