Page 48 - Issue50

COLT NICHOLS
250 MX / 7TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MPG
>> Jeff Emig said it best during the Thunder Valley Broadcast, Colt Nichols has been the most consistent rider in the 250 class at the first two rounds of the series (other than points leader Zach Osborne.) His first four motos of the year are 5-6-5- 4. These finishes may come as a surprise to some but Nichols has been putting in solid finishes over the past year now. Injuries have suppressed him and kept him from putting them up consistently. However, here at the start of the 2017 outdoor series, he’s the healthiest he’s been in months. He entered round three in Thunder Valley poised to keep up the consistency and quietly maintain his presence as a legitimate title contender.
Nichols struggled a bit in qualifying practice to get his day started. He only had the thirteenth fastest lap time but he knew what adjustments to make and he’d be ready for anything once that gate dropped. And when it did for moto one, Nichols rocketed towards the first turn and emerged from the opening lap in seventh. For the first half of the moto, he would swap positions with teammate Aaron Plessinger and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Adam Cianciarulo. All three riders would go back and forth but towards the second half of the moto they began to spread out. Nichols solidified sixth right in between AC and AP. He’d hold onto it until the finish marking another solid moto performance.
The second moto would mark Nichols’ toughest of the season. He got a subpar start back in fourteenth and never really got going. He climbed up to tenth three laps in but that would be as far as he’d go. He held it down until late in the moto when Shane McElrath snuck by to bump him back to eleventh. Nichols could not retaliate and would have to settle with the eleventh-place finish. Certainly not where he’d like to be but young riders will drop a moto like that here and there. The 6-11 for seventh overall is not too shabby. He’ll look to get back to the top six consis- tency at the next round at High Point.
48 GRITMOTO • JUNE 4, 2017