DYLAN FERRANDIS - GRIT 232 450SMX

DYLAN FERRANDIS | GRIT-232 | 450 SMX

France's Dylan Ferrandis appeared to want to prove a point as practice began in the state of North Carolina, with the former outdoor champion racing around the track with authority as the clock began to tick in qualification. The number fourteen was blasting through the sand while skating through the hard-packed terrain with his rear wheel in constant motion, which provided a solid foundation for he and his team to work from prior to embarking on the first moto. As the green flag waved for the first race of the afternoon, it was Ferrandis who secured fifth before seeing an opportunity to pass both, Aaron Plessinger and Ty Masterpool. Even amongst the smallest windows to move forward, Ferrandis was willing to push the envelope and out-charge the opponents with milliseconds more of power output...creating a third-place standing with Justin Barcia now being next to overtake. And it would be on the sixth circuit where the move would be made, in regard to surpassing the GasGas rider. Ferrandis wasted no time when seeing a slot to bypass the New York native, where he pushed his way forward and proceeded to roost Barcia as they exited the sand section; with third-place now solidified and Chase Sexton now in the foreground. Yet for the next ten laps, Ferrandis was unable to nullify the gap in which the Honda rider had made. Countless attempts of subtly chipping away at the margin were choreographed, but to definitely overtake the Honda rider would be another task by itself. However his performance in second was extremely admirable given the magnitude of competition, and as action ceased for moto-one, it was Ferrandis who was declared runner-up on the score sheet. For the second race of the afternoon, an initial standing of fifth-place was held for quite sometime and through the first quarter of the moto, the only opponent who would pass Ferrandis was that of Jett Lawrence. A decisive pass (on behalf of Lawrence) was made just after the "SX" triple, where Ferrandis' outside trek would be a result of pressure applied by the Honda rider. Though Dylan was able to work his way around Ty Masterpool in the moments that followed, and then Jason Anderson as well with the final quarter of the second main event...which had him occupying fourth while seeing Ken Roczen in the distance. He would try to surpass the Suzuki rider within the concluding six minutes of action, but the pass couldn't be made by the time the referee cued engines to cease. Therefore fourth-place was granted to the rider from France, which equated to an excellent third-overall in the final standings as well.

More from GRIT