DYLAN FERRANDIS - GRIT 238 450SX

DYLAN FERRANDIS | GRIT-238 | 450 SX

As fans poured into Angel Stadium for one final occasion in 2024, the energy of the venue was electric...and had many in the 450cc practice sessions battling for cheers from the crowd, when navigating around the track in Southern California. Without question, a fan favorite, was that of Dylan Ferrandis who had shown brilliant portions of speed thus far in the calendar year, and aspired to piece together a trio of strong performances at this inaugural Triple Crown event. Once practice had concluded, various teams were set to establish game-plans for how to attack the upcoming races...and once briefed on the fastest lines and how others fared, he would send his Phoenix Racing Honda Machine sprinting through the initial laps of the first moto quest. Flying over the finish line double with a rev that echoed throughout the stadium, the weighting of the outer foot-peg was key amongst the multitude of flat turns. A slight instance of too much pressure on the front-end occurred around the six minute mark (when jumping onto the start straightway) which was a quick reminder as to how unforgiving this soil was...but he prevailed, with slick race-craft that was spotted by seasoned enthusiasts in the chair backs. Those roars from the crowd, undoubtedly helped him persevere after making an early pass on the number ninety-six machine and keeping Hunter Lawrence at bay all the way to the finish line to earn a standing of eighth. For moto two, he was initially listed around a standing of ninth but showed signs of urgency when attempting to move forward. Various block pass attempts were displayed in the corner after the opening set of whoops, where ruts had now filled the exit portion(s) of the berm from right to left. Though the tuff-blocks aligned the boundaries of the raceway, he and his Honda chassis were proceeding to use every inch of raceway possible in order to sustain a smooth trajectory. Reading messages from his mechanic as he passed by the pit-board, continuously mastering the triple(s) in the rhythm lane thereafter was a must; if he hoped to keep Malcolm Stewart behind him...and as that process was executed as many times as possible en route to the final jump, all seemed to be well until the thirteenth circuit came to fruition - when a mistake cost him a plethora of position. Eventually finalized in fifteenth, he aspired to rebound in the following moto The final stage was critical and a platform of racing that had riders on the track for well over thirty-minutes of intense, points paying action. It could cause the mentality of many to crumble, though he was relentless and proceeded to hit his preferred lines lap after lap; which was presented in a position near seventh, long after the halfway point had passed. The final four (or so) laps, were a testament of willpower and focus - with fatigue beginning to truly set in, on a technical Supercross track that was considerably more dangerous than an outdoor circuit at this stage of the game...however he stood tall against the toughest test of them all (i.e. the Triple Crown) and would round the final right-handed corner of this moto in a standing of seventh...finishing here, due to a docking of position on behalf of Jason Anderson - which equated to seventh in the final standings.

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