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CHRISTIAN CRAIG
250 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / WILSON
>> Christian Craig’s 2017 East Coast series campaign has been disappointing when you factor in the fact that he was a title favorite entering the season. The Geico Honda rider has yet to find the same speed and groove he was in last year when he battled for wins and the championship with Cooper Webb and Joey Savatgy out in the West Coast series. He sat sixth in points heading into the break with only two top-fives and one podium in the seven races leading up to the race here in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With this being the second to last round of the series, Craig was determined to try and salvage some impressive perfor- mances before time runs out.
Craig looked comfortable in qualifying practice handling the brutal track with ease. His long body frame soaked up a lot of the obstacles well helping him set the fifth fastest lap time of the day. He was ready to give it a go come race time. He nailed a great start, which he has struggled with all year, in his heat race taking the green flag right behind race leader Zach Osborne. Craig focused on logging solid laps and staying mistake free which he ended up doing well. He held strong in to finish second over a battling Smith and Savatgy. It looked like this might be the night he battles up at the front in the main event.
Craig nailed another solid start in the main coming out of lap one in fourth position. He locked in behind Dylan Ferrandis and tried to keep pace with the leaders. He ran up front well even though Osborne charged through and passed both him and Ferrandis a few laps in. The pair of Ferrandis and Craig both got their spots they lost from Osborne back by passing Ciancia- rulo midway through the race. Back in fourth, Craig continued to try and hold it down behind Ferrandis but he slowly began to lose touch. He slipped from the Yamaha’s rear fender and would get passed back by Cianciarulo a couple laps later. He settled into fifth and looked to have it in control before Jordon Smith came through to make the pass with a handful of laps remaining. Craig would hold up there in sixth and take it to the checkered flag. However, he would officially end up fifth after Savatgy would get docked five positions for cutting the track late in the race. Still, he has been seeing to many finishes like that this season where he
his at the tail end of the lead group. He’ll have one more race to show us what he’s got next weekend at Las Vegas on a track that suits his style.
42 GRITMOTO • APRIL 30, 2017