Page 56 - Issue-61

BRADLEY TAFT
250 SX / 8TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Displaced, devastated, and disheartened. Three words used to describe the Houston area, post Hurricane Harvey. These poor residents had seen the unimagi- nable throughout the midst of the year, after one of the costliest disasters in modern history struck their homeland. With many having nothing but the clothes on their backs, to this day, they are left searching for bits and pieces of hope and joy. They are in urgent need of entertainment, and something to make their minds away. What better remedy than Supercross? That’s exactly the mindset that riders like Bradley Taft embodied, when rolling into the stadium to begin the practice sessions. From the moment his tires dug into this soft clay, his style was beyond pleasurable to the fans, whipping and scrubbing with all kinds of delight. His jersey flowing into the wind, he was never hesitant to uncork one of the large triples throughout the middle piece, to the particular rhythm sections. There was no question to where
his mind may have been as he approached the line for his heat race. Pummeling into the first corner, his left leg merely scraping the dirt with the heel of his boot,
he would search for every last piece of traction he could find. Shifting every few seconds, he was stretching the machine for the smallest of margins, just to etch over these monstrous pieces of real estate he was clearing. Never looking to settle, he would put block passes on the likes of Hayden Mellross, along with anyone else that got in his way. Wheel tapping his way through both whoop sections, his vision never fazed, as he eyed the prize of the final flag; he would go on to sew up the fourth position in heat one. As the main event had come upon them, his sigh of re- laxation was imminent on the launch pad. He would hit the opening lap with poise, wheeling into the final singles of each rhythm section, followed by a rebound and leap onto flat mother earth. Keeping two fingers on the clutch at all times, he would generate humongous amounts of RPM’s with a stabbing of the clutch in the bowl turns. Looking to move, and stay ahead of the likes of Kyle Chisholm and Justin Hill, his confidence wouldn’t falter, as he knew he could contend with the best in the sport. He would remain steady for the entirety of the moto, his mechanic giving him a solid nod on the final go around, crossing the line in the eighth position.
56 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 14, 2018