IN
THE
WIND
P36
BONITA WINS SHASTA DAM
GRAND PRIX THRILLER
A
fter getting the holeshot then
dropping into second place
behind reigning series champion
Cory Graffunder, Justin Bonita
capitalized when the SRT KTM
racer made a rare mistake on
the final lap around the muddy
18-mile course at the Chappie-
Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle
Area.
Instead of Graffunder, it was
Bonita pulling off his first win of
the season by taking the Red-
ding Dirt Riders' Shasta Dam
Grand Prix, round four of the
Kenda/SRT AMA West Hare
Scrambles Regional Champion-
ship Series.
"It's been a while; it feels
good to be back up here [at the
top of the box]," Pit Pro Cycles/
IRC Tires/Klim YZ250-mounted
Bonita said, his last series tri-
umph coming in 2014.
"I felt like I had great speed
today. [Graffunder] had great
speed like always, too, but I just
had a little bit more, maybe. I
knew eventually I could make a
move or he would make a mis-
take and it happened; I got lucky
and made the move and finished
strong.
"The whole race was great—
we were going back and forth.
He's a clean rider [and] we had
a clean race. I'm not sure if this
is the year, but we're going to
keep plugging along."
Kenda/Fasst Co./O'Neal
Racing 300 XC rider Graffunder
said. "I got around him fairly
quickly on the first road and
he was on my wheel the whole
time—he never gave me an inch.
"We were going at it, then
on the last lap I made a stu-
pid mistake: I came around a
corner too fast or whatever and
kind of high-sided and went off
the track—nothing major, just a
little tip-over—but when I picked
the bike up and tried to go, he
had gone by me, but my bike
wouldn't move! I looked down
and there's this big stick in my
front wheel, so by the time I
got going again, he was out of
sight."
With his runner-up finish,
Justin Bonita
pulled the
holeshot with
Cory Graffunder
(1) right behind
him.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
