MAX ANSTIE - GRIT 248 250SX

GRIT-248 | 250 SX

May 20, 2024 9:45 am

With valuable points on the line, Honda's Max Anstie was focused on striving as far forward within his respective 250cc SX championship as possible. There were an array of riders that could come in between he and his fellow opponents of his "home" division, creating a narrative that wasn't often seen at this stage in the series. As the green flag waved for practice, the exhaust of his Honda CRF250R would bark with an exclaiming presence...leaving much of the crowd in awe as he swept through the course with daring speeds that mimicked those in the 450cc classification. That intensity was sustained into the heat race portion of events as well, where he stormed from the line to gather a registry of eleventh in the initial stages. The revving from Gage Linville who trailed him was persistent - with the Georgia rider aggressively seeking to overtake him as they neared the three minute mark. However, he was steadfast and safeguarded numerous insides in order to keep the opponent at bay. Acknowledging the pit-board with two laps to go, he proceeded to sprint forward while carving through the corner that was only feet before the finish-line double...the shroud of his Honda looking to drag through the Nashville terrain as he bolted to the final takeoff. As action then came to a close, it was Anstie who occupied fifth. Amid the finalé, the intensity for all of those in the field was electric, but after beginning sixteenth, he knew that he would have a difficult trek to the top - but Anstie, plunged forward anyway! The margin for error was increasingly becoming smaller and smaller, especially as he and the couple of riders who trailed (including Haiden Deegan) were within an arm's reach per se, of colliding with him if he diverted left or right within the longest rhythm section. He understood the task at hand, and though the opponents in the top-five were rather daunting (such as RJ Hampshire and Jo Shimoda) he wasn't going to divert from his aspirations to try and reach the pinnacle of the pack. Around the twelve minute mark, there appeared to be a small break away on his behalf; in the corner that followed the whoops, through the sand section...meaning he distanced himself from that of Phil Nicoletti who was now behind him. Anstie, the athlete from England had somehow managed to push forward from the opening standing of sixteenth, past opponents like Coty Shock, Julien Beaumer, and Phil Nicoletti...with his sights set on overtaking Hymas on the last lap! That aspiration would come to fruition with a brilliant pass being made on the Idaho native - accelerating into seventh, as all was finalized in Nashville!

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