VOL. 53 ISSUE 28 JULY 19, 2016 P97
and I thought I could do it.
The next four minutes were
not ideal. And what I wouldn't
give for a pit board. The run
to Glen Cove, where I'd been
so dominant in qualifying, felt
completely off. I think in the
entire first sector, I hit about 50
percent of the apexes. And what
people were telling me about
the track changing was already
coming true. The Pirelli SC1s
that had been near perfect in
qualifying were not gripping and
the KTM was snaking all over
a track. I'd never experienced
anything like it.
By Glen Cove, I thought the
last sector was such a mess that
I had to be behind in the times. I
figured I had to push, and push
hard.
Little did I know, I was in front
by five seconds.
Coming into the decreasing
radius left at Cove Creek, I got
the entry, middle and exit spot
on. The KTM fired up the hill,
noticeably faster than any time
in practice beforehand. There
was also the added factor of no
sunlight blinding me through
the right-hander on the run to
Elk Park, and I knew with the
right line I could take it flat out in
fourth. So I did.
But I didn't adjust my braking
marker.
I spotted my old marker, hit
the anchors and realized I was
in too hot. The back-end im-
mediately came off the ground
and pitched sideways, but I had
enough control that I figured
I could rebound it off the hay
bayles and back onto the track.
But I was still going too fast.
I ended up cutting between
the hay bayles and the Armco
barriers, smacking the steel
side-on and getting pitched over
the fence onto the waiting cliff
ledge. There was a level piece
of ground there, maybe a yard
wide, where I landed. Beyond
that was just thin mountain air.
That was luck of the best kind.
Check out this awesome video from the crew at Next Moto Champion who were
part of our posse for the race. Warning: it's riveting watching!
