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PHIL NICOLETTI
450 MX / 10TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> With the series slowly heading towards the nale, in just a few short weeks, you may notice a few of the rider’s morale becoming a bit stagnant. Some are dwelling on the ini- tial portion of the series, and what they could’ve done a better; maybe it was an outlier, one event in particular where disaster struck. And there are few already counting down the days until Supercross. It’s a blend of thought, but one constant remains; and that is, Phil Nicoletti is looking to place his best foot forward in the hills of Washougal. Eyeing this race for weeks, he planned to excel with exquisite precision, soaring through these trees like an eagle mid- ight. Practice was a reiteration of his visualization throughout the week, where he saw himself in optimal position on the leaderboard, sitting pretty prior to the commencement of the rst moto. Once loading the gate, he gave a subtle st bump to his mechanic, and eyed this tunnel of a start straight. And then with a ash of thought, he was soaring up the initial uphill, riding the back wheel for all its worth. Com- ing around the rst lap in eleventh he knew the leaders were already establishing a solid pace out front, and needed to up the ante to sustain their pace. Cresting the nish line, he looked to make up time in the following chicane, using both inside-outside, and vice versa combinations, in order to pull from the likes of Josh Grant. Little by little, the gap began to lengthen, and his breathing patterns became a bit steadier. Launching over the outbound single-tabletop about three-fourths of the way in, he took a small glance down at his bar pad; remembering how hard he’d worked during the week. It encouraged him to keep moving, knowing the white ag was just around the corner. A mere two min-
utes later, he would round, catching the nal black and white sheet waving in the wind; he would nish ninth. It was now time to provide a sequel of emotion to his rst moto performance, and he would begin the dance around sixth place. Weaving throughout this logjam of traf c, in the left-right following the drop down, he tried to make as many moves as possible, while the crowd was still bunched. He would launch into the strato- sphere off of these triples next to the in eld, occasionally seeing Blake Baggett at a horizontal scope to the right. The track, getting a bit dusty and hard-packed, kept him in check for every round of the layout. Trucking along, the tire tread began to wear; yet his spirit remained constant. He would claim twelfth, strong enough for tenth overall.
56 GRITMOTO • JULY 29, 2018