Page 50 - Issue_63

BLAKE BAGGETT
450 SX / 9TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Blake Baggett finally began reeling together solid performances on a 450 on a consistent basis last season. More known for his motocross ability, Baggett finally began to transfer those skills indoors and seemed to excel aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM. He only had three races where he finished outside of the top ten and all three were due to crashes. It was a struggle for him early on in his 450 days, but those days now seem long ago. Despite that, his start to the 2018 season has been a bit shaky. He started off at Anaheim 1 making several mistakes and finishing in twelfth place. He ended up rebounding and pulling off back to back seventh place finishes at the previous two rounds, but it feels like there is still something there. He showed us that something with a third in the first main event last weekend at Anaheim 2 but failed to make it worth much as he would finish tenth and sixteenth in the final two races of the night. His little inconsistences and miscues haunted him, and he looked to shake those demons with a strong showing in Glendale. Baggett looked spry and feisty in qualifying practice. The rider, who calls southern California his home, threw down the fifth fastest lap time of the day and was less than half a second from the fastest lap time. His speed is not in question, it is his ability to get
a good start and string together mistake-free laps. He’d aim to answer those question marks in the night show. The night in the desert did not start off good for Baggett at all. He appeared to have a great start entering the first turn but checked up just a touch causing him to collide with Cole Seely; both would go down. The two riders remounted in last place and Baggett would lock in behind Seely and follow him to the front. The two rides carved their way through the pack, determined to not go to the LCQ. By lap five, Baggett had indeed worked up into the final transfer spot in ninth, but he did not rest there. He contin- ued following Seely forward and the pair would pass Cooper Webb for one more spot at the end of the race. The eighth place was not pretty but it got him to the main event where he’d look to do better. Another gate drop, another poor start for Baggett. This time he would get the green flag in fourteenth place. The field is so similar in speed that he would have trouble moving up and would stay in fourteenth during the opening laps. On lap four he finally made one pass and on lap six he’d make another, pass- ing Vince Friese, putting him up to twelfth. That is where Baggett would stay for a bulk of the race. When the time started to wind down he’d end up making a few more moves. He passed Malcolm Stewart for eleventh on lap thirteen and then pulled up on a big battle involving Seely, Grant, Webb, and Peick. He watched most of it go on but could not get close enough to get involved until lap twenty when he’d get by Seely. Then with just two laps to go, he’d also work around Grant to get into ninth place. Baggett would end up finishing the race right there. It was certainly not the kind of race he was looking for com- ing into the night. Bad starts plagued him yet again. He has two main racing components dialed, his fitness and speed; Now he just needs to find a way to get a holeshot.
50 GRITMOTO • JANUARY 28, 2018