Page 24 - issue-36

JAKE WEIMER
450 SX / TEXAS
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / KILPATRICK DESIGN / WILSON
>> Jake Weimer was one of many high profile riders that was left without a ride coming into the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross season...then the injury bug struck. Justin Barcia would be forced to miss the beginning of the season and Weimer was drafted as a replacement rider for the JGR Suzuki team. He outperformed his expectations in the first round of the season by scoring an eleventh place at Anaheim I. His season has experienced some ups and downs since the series opener, but the
last round in Oakland was a step in the right direction. Weimer put himself in thirteenth position at the end of the main event as he used his veteran experience to excel on the toughest track of the season thus far. The Idaho native wasn’t able to match that same standard when qualifying started in Arlington, but he salvaged a decent gate pick for his heat race with the eighteenth fastest qualify- ing time. Weimer pulled a decent start in his heat race as he shot out of the gate within the top ten. The JGR Suzuki fill-in found himself on the rear fender of HRC’s Cole Seely as the pack rounded the stadium for the first time, but he wasn’t able to keep in touch with the Honda rider for long. Weimer made a move past Friese on the second lap as he followed Seely forward, but he hit a traffic jam
in the form of Factory Yamaha’s Chad Reed. He wasn’t able to progress any further than seventh position for the remainder of the heat race, holding off Tickle in the late stages of the moto to keep his confidence in check heading into the semis. Weimer put himself in the mix off the start in his semi race as he managed to come out of the first corner within the top ten. He progressively made some moves throughout the first couple laps and moved his way into the final transfer position, but it didn’t last for long -- Brady Kiesel attempted to pass him back for the transfer position and over jumped coming into the second corner, causing them both to hit the deck. He came back with a vengeance in the LCQ as he blasted off into the diffused sunlight peering into the stadium, earning himself the un- disputed holeshot as rode off to an uncontested victory. Weimer ended up fitting in just behind Ryan Dungey on the opening lap of action in the main event -- that would normally be considered a good thing, except for the fact that he sat in fourteenth place. The JGR Suzuki rider kept things consistent for the first five laps as he held firmly in that position, eventually moving forward past Vince Friese into thirteenth. Throughout the midway point of the race, his consistency rewarded him as he took ad- vantage of multiple rider’s mistakes further up the field, propelling him into ninth position by the tenth lap. At that point, Weimer had locked the fellow Suzuki rider of Justin Bogle in his sights and never
let him out of the crosshairs; a couple of laps later, the Idaho native pounced on his prey and gained another position on the track. One lap later, he would benefit from a downed Blake Baggett and move into seventh position with approximately half the race remaining. The latter half of the main event was fairly uneventful for the JGR rider, he hit his marks and utilized his veteran composure to bring home a seventh place finish in his best performance of the season.
24 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 12, 2017