VOL. 50 ISSUE 25 JUNE 25, 2013
Mike Lafferty could
taste victory but
Mullins got him at
the end.
P95
"I thought I threw it away in the first test
of the day," said Mullins. "I fell three times
and I over-shot two corners, which wasn't
a good start to the event. We changed
the front tire before the second test and
I kind of settled down and got back into a
groove."
Mullins picked up the pace in test two,
gaining 18 seconds back on Lafferty and
moving up into second place after two
tests. From that point on, Mullins and
Lafferty pushed each other to faster and
faster times, at the same time widening the
gap over the field.
Heading into the final test, Mullins held
a slim six-second advantage over Lafferty.
For all intents and purposes, the final test
amounted to an 8.5-mile "winner-take-all"
race for the overall win. And at the end,
Mullins, once again, found a way to collect
another win.
"Mike and I were pretty close on time
going into the final test, and I ended up
falling in the "rock garden" part of the section," said Mullins. "I thought right then that
it might have cost me the win. I was sure
I lost all of my advantage. But Mike must
have had a problem too, because I ended
up beating him by five seconds in that one,
which gave me the win by 11 seconds."
Afterwards, Lafferty admitted that he too
had a slipup in the final test.
"I still had a chance to get the win going into the last test and I just put my head
down and gave it all I had," said Lafferty.
"I had one little mistake, nothing crazy,
though. I think I had a solid test and I
pushed as hard as I felt comfortable doing, but he still ended up getting me. I'm
not totally satisfied, but I'm happy we were
in the mix."
Lafferty attributed part of his success to
his poor performance at the previous race
in Michigan where he finished fourth.
