Aaron Plessinger rose to the occasion for a podium-filled day in the 450MX class, racing his KTM 450 SX-F to a season-best third overall with 7-3 moto finishes in Southwick, Massachusetts.
Plessinger, a rider known for his versatile riding abilities in all types of terrain, put all the pieces together in some of the most grueling conditions of the season. The Ohio native had a bit of a slow start to the day, qualifying 19th, but he turned things around at the drop of a gate and he proved to only get stronger as the day went on. In Moto 1, he got off to an eighth-place start and he battled there for the first five laps. Climbing up to sixth midway through, he fought hard to break into the top-five late in the race but a mishap with his tear-offs cost him a position with a few laps to go, ultimately finishing seventh. With a powerful start in Moto 2, Plessinger immediately worked up to second and he chased after the leader for the first half of racing. Dicing back-and-forth in a heated battle between second and third, Plessinger eventually settled into third late in the race and he finished strong with his first moto-podium of the season in third.
Aaron Plessinger: “It was an interesting one today! I felt good in qualifying but the numbers didn’t show with P19. In the first moto, I was feeling good and started flowing and caught up to almost fifth and then lost my tear-offs in the last few laps, so I ended up seventh. Second moto, I got off to a sick start and me, Eli and Kenny were battling there for a bit. I got by Kenny and tried to pace Eli for a bit but Chase was on rails and I started making a few mistakes there at the end. Overall, it was a really good day and I’m heading into Spring Creek with high confidence.”
