As Cole Thompson headed into last weekend’s Phoenix SX, he no doubt had very high expectations. After a tough round a few weeks ago in Anaheim, Cole bounced back at the Oakland SX to finish in a season high 10th place in the 250SX main event. In Phoenix, Cole had a great heat race where he finished 6th and recieved a direct transfer to the main event.
However, when the gate dropped for the main Cole was buried back in the pack. With a very fast track that was difficult to pass on, Cole could only managed a 13th place finish. With the final round of the West Coast swing this weekend in San Diego, Cole hopes to have his best finish of the season before the West Lites class goes on a two month break. Here is a great collection of Frank Hoppen photos from the Phoenix SX.
Cole was his usual stylish self inside the massive Glendale Stadium.With a fast and difficult track at round 5, Cole had to be precise on route to his 13th place finish.One of the cool features of the Phoenix track was the outdoor section. Here Cole stretches it out over one of the outdoor jumps.With the huge crowd in the background, Cole battles for position in the main event.Cole demonstrates how to float over the step-up in the new outdoor section.For the racers, the Phoenix track was difficult and slippery, for the fans it was a masterpiece.Cole searches for traction on the hard packed Phoenix soil as he exits one of the corners.If Cole had time to look to his left, he’d notice that there are only 2 laps remaining.As you can see, ruts weren’t exactly an issue in Phoenix as the dirt was very hard.
