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JIMMY ALBERTSON
450 SX / TEXAS
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / COPELAND DESIGN / WILSON
>> The Shawnee, Oklahoma native Jimmy Albertson is a fan favorite at most stadiums. This weekend in Arlington is no exception as it’s the clos- est race to his area all year and is considered his home race. The Suzuki rider has had an up and down start to his season with mixed results
and that trend has continued into this week’s round of Monster Energy Supercross. Albertson started out the day qualifying 19th fastest in the mornings timed sessions. Albertson would struggle with starts though as he went on to finish 8th in his heat and would be headed to the semi to try and qualify for the main. His night took a turn for the worst when he had a rough go in the semi finishing 14th after starting inside the top 5 and running there almost the entire race. He just didn’t seem comfort- able and made too many mistakes to finish where he started in the very competitive semi. Top Jimmy was forced into the LCQ if he wanted to qualify for the night show. In the LCQ he finally landed a decent start and was able to follow Weimer around for the entire race and finish 2nd in the LCQ landing one of the final spots in the 450 main. Regardless of how he had to get there he made it to the main and things were looking up after the way they started for the 67. Jimmy began the main with a below aver- age start and crossed the line in 17th opening lap. Albertson would only fall further behind as the race went on fading as far back as 21st. Jimmy played the survival card better than all the riders who finished behind him as he was able to stay on the track while others were forced to the pit. The privateer went on to finish the main event in 16th on a night where things didn’t seem to be going his way.
90 GRITMOTO • FEBRUARY 12, 2017