Yeti-FOX's Graves begins a strong season at World Cup #1 in Vigo, Spain
Vigo, Spain (May 6 and 7, 2006) - Jared Graves of the Yeti-FOX Factory Racing
Team rode a solid downhill and came *this* close to sweeping the 4X.
The Vigo 4X course serves a ripping mix of smooth berms, off-camber drifters,
technical rollers and big jumps. The road gap at the bottom of the course
crosses two lanes and drops about 12 feet -- enough to make the team think
twice about boosting it on a hardtail. Of course Jared Graves buttered it on
his Yeti Dirt Jumper. He qualified third, just 0.6 seconds behind Michal
Prokop.
In racing the course was dry and fast, and the flat turns were giving no
traction love. Basically, if you got the hole shot you could lead the whole
run, and Graves repeated that scheme all the way to the semifinals. In that
round, he got a bad start and reached the first turn in a tight bunch. He tried
to pass, but the loose dirt wasn't in the mood. Graves got sucked to the
outside, bled his speed, and that was that. In the consolation round, he got
the snap and led all the way for fifth place. Every run was perfect, except the
semis.
The Vigo downhill course is fast on top, with lots of roots and a supersteep
rock section that funnels into a flat pedalfest and finally the 4X finish.
Graves ran his standard setup: a Yeti 303 with a FOX 40 set to 7.5 inches. In
practice, he took a slow line through the rocks that gave him nice speed into
the flats. In the race, he pinned it through the rocks, got balled up and lost
speed right when he needed it most. That cost him serious time, and he finished
15th out of 78, eight seconds behind the winner Mick Hannah.
The crowds were huge and crazy -- pretty typical for Europe. Fans were asking
everyone for autographs and photos, even the team manager Damion Smith. His
favorite fan
Date:
11/05/2006