Page 50 - Issue50

MITCHELL HARRISON
250 MX / 8TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MPG
>> Mitchell Harrison has opened some eyes over the past month or so. He had some strong runs to end the Supercross season and even swapped positions late with Zach Osborne in his now legendary championship charge in Vegas. He’s always had that raw speed and it appears now that he is beginning to refine it to become more con- sistent. His starts have also been stellar at the first two rounds of the outdoor series. He’s been able to get up front early and garner that experience with the front runners. Harrison’s been hovering in and out of the top ten every moto so far with two tenth overalls. He entered Thunder Valley wanting to take one step further and finish deeper in the top ten.
Harrison qualified fourteenth aboard his Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha machine
and knew all he needed was a great start to get his heart pumping and his lap time dropping. He did just that when the gate dropped in moto one. He rounded lap one in fourth place and then pumped full of adrenaline, he grabbed a handful of throttle and went after the leaders. Early in the race it was Harrison that set the tone as he passed Adam Cianciarulo and then two-time champion Jeremy Martin. He set his sights on the leader Alex Martin but that’s when his adrenaline started to wear off. He started mak- ing little mistakes and he started dropping positions. Just three laps after taking over second, he had dropped back to eighth. He would not be able to regain his footing in the moto and would fall three more spots back to eleventh where he ended up finish- ing. He showed big time promise early and he wanted to try and do the same in moto two except maintain it this time.
Harrison ripped another solid start coming around lap one in third. He did not have that early fight in him like the previous moto and dropped a handful of spots in the opening laps. He fell to seventh where he held strong for a while until Justin Hill came by to steal it away. Now in eighth, Harrison hunkered down and weathered the storm. He’d hold out there the rest of the way to finish in eighth position. His 11-8 moto scores on the day would be enough for eighth overall marking his best of the year. If he can up his endurance and maintain his early race speed, he could become a top five threat before this season is over.
50 GRITMOTO • JUNE 4, 2017