Page 122 - ISSUE41

GRADIE FEATHERSTONE
250 SX / 18TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / ARMSTRONG DESIGN / WILSON
>> Here is a name that not a lot of people have heard of, but the young rider out of the United Kingdom is poised to make waves in supercross world. The 19 year old rider has made 3 of the 5 main events this season, the first two came at rounds one and two in Min- neapolis and Atlanta. Unfortunately at those rounds Gradie was un- able to score any points but this weekend in Indianapolis he was able to walk away with 3. Featherstone came into the season as a rookie but was able to get some good support from the 3D Racing Yamaha crew to compete for his first season in Supercross. Gradie was placed in the first 250 heat race of the night and boy did he have to work hard to qualify directly to the main. The #931 came around lap one holding onto the final transfer position with some heavy company following. On lap two veteran Kyle Cunningham made his way by and it looked as if Featherstone was going to be making a trip to the LCQ. In the final laps of the race Featherstone found himself in a heated battle with Henry Miller for the final ticket and was just able to get across the finish line ahead of the #81. Featherstone came around lap one of the main event in 15th place but got up to 14th right away. Gradie ended up losing the spot to Renzland a few laps later. With 9 minutes plus a lap remaining the rookie made a mistake that pushed him from 15th to 20th. With just over half of the main event left, Gradie picked himself up and charged away on his Yamaha. When it was all said and done the 3D Racing Yamaha rider came away in 18th place and scored his first points of his professional career, needless to say it was a happy night for the Featherstone camp.
122 GRITMOTO • MARCH 19, 2017