Page 42 - MPG14

JIMMY ALBERTSON
This year hasn’t gone as smoothly as Jimmy Albertson would have hoped at the beginning of 2016. Being
a rider and a team owner can be an incredibly stressful situation which creates too much responsibility.
Albertson runs the Motorcycle Superstore Suzuki team that he also rides for in the 250 East division. He would be considered a 450 veteran at this point in his career, but he decided to make the step down to the 250 class to race alongside Kyle Cunningham, Mark Worth, and Josh Osby. Both of the rookies have had their issues so far this year; Worth crashed on a dragon’s back at A1 on the very first lap of the very first practice and suffered a fractured elbow as well as a dislocated hip, and Osby broke three ribs and punctured a lung in a practice crash at the end of January. Albertson started out the 250 East series with a solid 10th place finish, but things got worse from there after he cartwheeled through the whoops in Toronto during practice and broke his sternum. He still qualified for the night show and raced the main event, but he chose to sit out the next weekend in Detroit to let himself heal up. Albertson was the sole representative of the Motorcycle Superstore Suzuki team at the Indianapolis SX and he performed well below his potential. The combination of his injury still bothering him and the track being the most technically challenging one of the year didn’t allow Jimmy to qualify for the night show - something that very rarely happens to a rider with the support of Albertson.It’s very likely that he had sponsorship obligations that were forcing him to ride, because the team is so banged up. It’s hard to know what to expect from Jimmy this weekend in St. Louis, but one thing is for sure, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone out there tougher than Top Jimmy.
42 GRITMOTO • APRIL.18.16
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