Page 45 - October_MPG

NATE THRASHER
The last couple races of the 2016 season produced some outstanding results for the Tennessee native of Nate Thrasher, allowing him the opportunity to join forces with the highly coveted Monster Energy Team Green Kawasaki for the 2017 season. His season was moving in a positive direction after a trio of titles at the Millcreek Spring Classic, but a broken hand during practice at the Daytona RCSX derailed his chances
of racking up some more titles throughout the spring nation- als. The supermini sensation put the injury behind him and impressed throughout his Loretta Lynn’s qualifiers, earning himself a spot at the Ranch in the Mini Sr. 2 class as well as the Supermini 1 class. Thrasher experienced a week full of highs and lows as so many racers do in his home state of Tennes- see, but he still managed to capture his first overall podium
at Loretta’s, marking another milestone in his already illustri- ous career. The teenager has since made the step off of the 85cc machine and came into the Baja Brawl solely focused on racing the Supermini class, as well as the Schoolboy 1 class aboard his underpowered supermini machine. Thrasher’s first moto came Saturday morning in the Supermini 1 class, and
the Tennessee native realized a dream start to the weekend with an untouched moto victory. He pulled the holeshot and never looked back, leaving the ensuing pack in his dust with a comfortable win to start the weekend. The Kawasaki rider set the pace in the early stages of the moto, clocking the fastest lap time, but he backed it down slightly by the end of the race in order to take the checkered flag with a seven second advan- tage ahead of Jeremy Ryan. The two of them would establish themselves as the cream of the crop in both Supermini classes and their battles would continue on the track throughout the en- tire weekend, regularly swapping moto wins. In the Supermini
2 class, Thrasher wasn’t able to get the jump that he needed in order to battle for the lead in the early stages of the race. The Tennessee native found himself outside of the top five following the start, but he kept his head down and recuperated through- out the first couple of laps, eventually recovering for a second place finish. On the second day of racing, the Team Green Kawasaki rider had the speed to put himself on the top step of the podium, but he allowed Ryan to take the early advantage and ultimately had to step back for a second place result in both motos. The two of them exchanged fast lap times in both races and put themselves in the spotlight as the class of the field, but it would take three days of racing to determine the rider that would come out on top. On the final day of racing, Thrasher was in contention for both Supermini titles -- if he won the race in the Supermini 1 class, he’d be the champion, and he needed a little bit of help from Ryan to claim the title in the Supermini 2 class. The two of them started out front in the final Supermini 1 moto with Thrasher holding firm in second place; he laid down the fastest lap time of the moto yet again, but he wasn’t able
to mount an attack against the Californian, relegating him to second place overall. He redeemed himself in the Supermini 2 class with an exceptional start that put him at the front of the pack within a flash of the eye, holding his composure until the
checkered flag where he claimed his second moto win of the weekend to give him another second overall.
KILPATRICK
WWW.GRITMOTO.COM
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