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BLAKE BAGGETT
450 MX / 1ST
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MPG
>> Blake Baggett stormed into High Point holding all the momentum in the 450 class. He finally broke through to win his first ever moto and overall in the premier class. He seemed to flip a switch onto another level as he effortlessly attacked the track with extreme precision and speed. He certainly looked like the old ‘El Chupacabra’ version of himself from his 250 days and many were eager to see if he could back it up with a similar performance at High Point once the series resumed after a one week break.
The track was slick and muddy in qualifying practice but that did not prevent Baggett from ham- mering out the second fastest lap time. He looked to be riding with a new-found confidence and could not wait for the gate to drop in moto one.
When the gate finally did drop for the first moto, Baggett managed to get out to a solid top five start. He quietly got to work early and inched up on the leaders. He got by Bogle on lap two and then Craig on lap four for third. There he had a perfect view of a battle for the lead between Australian, Dean Ferris, and So Cal’s Josh Grant. Baggett decided an even better view would be a clean track so he didn’t hesitate on making more moves. He passed Grant right away and then got around Ferris the following lap to secure the lead. From there he consistently built up a sizable margin on the rest of the field en route to an easy victory. He was clearly the fastest rider out there hitting a few jumps no one else had yet to do which helped him substantially. He entered moto two looking for a similar outcome.
Baggett appeared to nail an even better start in the second moto but a slight bobble through the first set of corners set him back to eighth at the end of the opening lap. Knowing his main title contender Eli Tomac was up front, he knew he had no time to waste. He started making moves swiftly on the deep, rutted course. After four laps he was already up to fourth but he was not done there. He set his sights on Broc Tickle and Jason Anderson and sliced between both of them in successive laps. Now in second, he had a clear track to try and run Tomac down for the lead but the ten second lead proved to be insurmountable. Every time Baggett lowered his lap times to make a charge, Tomac would match the times. In the end, he conceded know-
ing his 1-2 moto scores would be plenty good enough to secure the overall on the day after Tomac’s 12-1. Now with back to back overall victories, Blake Baggett has taken the points lead away from Marvin Musquin and holds an eight-point lead. We’ll see if he can keep it going next weekend in Tennessee.
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GRITMOTO • JUNE 18, 2017