Page 63 - MPG3

theGRIT
Enlisted in both of the Schoolboy classes, the #33 Red Bull KTM of Derek Drake was put to the test with a set of intense main event’s ahead of him. Coming off an 8th place finish in the Schoolboy 2 Heat #2, Drake was focused on his first main of the sunny Monday in
Florida. Getting off to a mediocre 14th place start, the odds were against him. In a class like schoolboy, just as in
the Monster Energy supercross series, starts can be everything and it was no different in Daytona. Drake battled hard despite falling back to 16th on lap 2 and 17th on lap 4. Lap 6 saw Drake’s fastest of the race, pulling him back to where he started in 14th for the finish one lap later. Outside the top 10 is definitely not Drake’s usual result, so with nearly a 20 moto gap, he put Schoolboy 2 behind him, hoping Schoolboy 1 and his 1st place in the Sunday qualifier would carry him to a successful weekend. As the final race of the weekend drew near, with a clean bike and fresh face, Drake lined up one last time. Off to a much better start, the number 33 was on a rampage, dropping fast lap after fast lap, making his way from 4th to 2nd the end of lap 3. Continuing to display his strengths late in the race, Drake still charged narrowing the gap on the 1st place Jalek Swoll to just over seconds. When the dust settled on the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross weekend, Drake raced solid in both moto’s capping off his 2016 Spring National introduction with a 2nd place finish. Although the day could have started better, I’ll say this, the stage for 2016 is set and Derek Drake is preparing to put on a show.
words/BRENTECKERT
WWW.GRITMOTO.COM
63