Page 118 - ISSUE41

ERIC GRONDAHL
250 SX / 16TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / WILSON
>> What a night it was at round 5 of the 250 East Coast series for the #351 of Eric Grondahl who qualified for the main event for the first time in his ca- reer. The Honda rider out of Portsmith, New Hampshire started the evening off in Indianapolis with the 24th fastest lap time in qualifying with a 50.742. Grondhal was put into the first heat race of the night where he seemed to struggle putting his laps together. Eric got off the gate with a near last place start and only managed to make his way to a 14th place finish sending himself to the LCQ. The Alias backed rider got a good jump this time around, rounding the first corner in 5th place. While on the outside of a transfer posi- tion Eric was still in a better spot than most of the field. Although Grondahl slipped back a few positions during the race, he kept his composure and continued to battle on. Eric was sitting two positions out but was able to get by early leader Sizemore who went down, just before the last lap flag. The rookie knew he had to make the move on Klippel if he wanted the final trans- fer, and he was able to do it with a half lap remaining. You could see the emotion through the helmet of Grondahl as he came across the finish line achieving a lifetime goal of making a supercross main event. While making the main event was a huge accomplishment it was time for the big show and the nerves were kicking in. Grondahl came around lap one in 19th position and was coming under pressure from the other riders who have made main events in the past. Just five minutes into the main event the rookie found himself on the dirt, picking himself back up in 21st. Eric seemed to cool it down after his mistake, and finished the race off with an impressive 16th place finish.
118 GRITMOTO • MARCH 19, 2017