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COLT NICHOLS
250 MX / 6TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> 2018 has been a tough year for Colt Nichols. He initially started off his 250 SX East Coast Championship season almost as good as you could. He nished second place in the main event at the season opener to Zach Osborne. His speed seemed on par with the rest of the championship contenders but struggles at the next two rounds would result in sixth and ninth place nishes. Then before round four, a practice crash would break his humorous for the second time in his career. That painful injury would sideline him for the rest of the Supercross season and a chunk of the outdoor season. He returned to action last weekend at Muddy Creek with a modest performance. He would go 10-20 on the day but that second moto was skewed with a crash. He was looking for a more complete day at Southwick.
Nichols speed was on display in the morning qualifying practice sessions. His time healing from injury de nitely did not slow him down as he went out and notched the seventh fastest lap time of the class. He appeared to be dialed in with his Monster Energy Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha and he was eager for the races to begin. Nichols did not get the greatest of starts in the rst moto of the day. He was buried mid pack and ended up grabbing the green ag back in fteenth place. He struggled to make passes in the sand, only making one in the rst four laps. But on lap ve, he leapfrogged up to eleventh place. He moved into tenth at the halfway point and then ninth the lap after that. He had found a little groove and a few laps later, he would inherit eighth place after Justin Cooper, his teammate, crashed while running up front. Nichols would nish the moto strong there in eighth as he was far back from the lead group of riders since it took him so long to get there. Still, eighth was his best moto since his return and he would look to build on that in moto two. Another bad start would hinder Nich- ols in moto two. He came out lap one in twelfth this time and made moves a bit quicker. He moved past Mitchell Harrison and Challen Tennant to get into tenth by lap three. He plugged away for a few more laps before he was able to pass Jordon Bailey and Jordon Smith on lap ve to take over eighth. It looked like he was going to anchor down the spot and continue moving forward but Harrison never let him go after his initial pass on lap two and Harrison passed Nichols back at the halfway point. Nichols hitched a ride with Harrison as the two con- tinued to work forward. Nichols would snag a spot from Austin Forkner after his big crash to retake eighth with just three laps left. That would be as far as Nichols would go and he would nish the moto in eighth for the second time on the day. His 8-8 moto scores would earn him a solid sixth overall. A brilliant nish in just his second race back and he will look for a similar nish next weekend at Red Bud.
46 GRITMOTO • JULY 1, 2018