Page 16 - ISSUE78

MITCHELL HARRISON
250 MX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> After being in a tad bit of a lull the past few years, Michigan’s Mitchell Harrison seems to be coming into his own as of late. The former Kawasaki Team Green amateur stand- out struggled in his rst chapter of his professional career, yet over the last few weeks, he’s been a contender at the front of the eld. Never one to make excuses, Harrison has worked diligently, putting in countless laps at the test track, and working with the team rsthand in order to get the bike dialed in. It seemed to work as he rolled onto the track for practice, leaving the white Husqvarna machine as clean as could be, staying out of the roost of many. He was blazing his own trail, railing both outside lines of sweepers, and hugging the inside lines of these sharp one hundred eighty degree corners. It was
as though he was letting the track come to him, and something he hoped to continue once the gate dropped for race purposes. A third place start had him battling with leaders Aaron Plessinger and RJ Hampshire, yet it wouldn’t be long before fellow young-gun Austin Forkner would work his way around. Next up, Jordon Smith would begin to pres- sure the Husky pilot, throwing his erratic shenanigans into the peripheral vision of the number thirty. Although one of the ercest racers on the track, he wouldn’t blemish at the site of the Orange Brigade pilot, instead, focusing on moving forward in the remaining laps. With Forkner just out of arms reach, Harrison would blitz by, continuing to chase the number thirty- ve, although the overtaking may have been a bit unfathomable. Com-
ing into the white ag lap, the order would remain: Plessinger, Hampshire, Forkner, and then Harrison. It would stay that way until the races’ conclusion, with Mitchell claiming a solid fourth place. Yet again his starting technique was dialed, screaming off of the line in fth place. With a train of some of the ercest pilots just behind, the number thirty would hook on to Chase Sexton. Keeping the Honda rider in check, he would be the recipient
of Aaron Plessinger’s mistake, pushing him forward into the fourth place ride. All seemed to be well, until a feverish Justin Cooper would be charging from behind; it was all he could do to withstand the effort from the young New Yorker, but unfortunately, the Yamaha rider would get the best of him. He would follow him until the checkered ag, taking a fth place for the moto, but fourth overall.
16 GRITMOTO • AUGUST 19, 2018