Page 14 - ISSUE51

JASON ANDERSON
450 MX / 3RD
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MPG
>> Two weeks ago at our last race in Colorado, Jason Anderson was happy to even finish the races let alone finish on the podium with a 2-6. In years past he has struggled tremendously from altitude sickness so that was a big positive for him and his championship hopes heading into the break. With the wild state of the 450 class, he has got to bummed about DNF-ing the opening moto of the year or else he’d be much closer in the chase. It just makes every point that much more important from here on out. With little room for error, he entered High Point ready to start earning some points back and inch his way back into the title picture.
Anderson came out in qualifying practice on fire. He set the deep and muddy course ablaze while setting the fastest lap time of the day by two seconds. He looked like that man to beat once the races started and all he needed was a great start to get himself going.
The gate dropped in moto one and Anderson failed to nail the holeshot but he started just a few spots back in sixth. He was right behind the hottest man in the serious, Blake Baggett, so he started hanging it out to follow him up through the field. He struggled to get around Bogle the first few laps but finally broke through and passed him and Craig to maintain sight of Baggett. It looked like he was getting ready to challenge him when he made a mistake and went down in the rollers. His bike miraculously stayed damage free and he remounted quickly only falling back to ninth. He picked up where he left off and made a couple moves up to sixth and was passing Justin Bogle for fifth late in the moto when he ran it in too deep causing both riders to tip over. Anderson remounted quickly yet again only losing one spot. He kept charging the last three laps and passed Webb on the final one to secure fifth place. It was a rough moto for Anderson but he kept his cool and still managed a very solid result. However, he would want more in moto two.
Anderson got a great start in the second moto. He was just edged out by Tickle for the official hole- shot but he would take the lead anyway to lead the pack around lap one. He would lead the first three laps and it appeared at first he might inch away from Tomac and Tickle but a small mistake would cost him the lead and Tomac would squeak by. Tickle and Baggett would then send Anderson back to fourth the following lap and that seemed to wake him up a bit. All three riders duked it out for the next lap or two and when the dust settled Anderson had regained third with a comfortable gap on Tickle
in fourth. He would lose track of Baggett throughout the moto but would easily bring his Husqvarna home to finish third place in the moto. His 5-3 scores would be enough to score him second overall on the day making it three straight podium finishes. We’ll see if he has what it takes to get back on top of the box like he did a few weeks ago at Glen Helen next weekend in Tennessee.
14 GRITMOTO • JUNE 18, 2017