Speaking with Swapmoto, Vince Friese gives his side on his Craig pass attempt that left both on the ground.
“I was never intending to go inside, explained Friese. “I just couldn’t get three out of the turn in that rhythm, it was a long lane. We came to the conclusion 2,2,3 all the way out, so it was a tenth slower, maybe two tenths. At best the guy would be alongside you at the end and that’s exactly how it played out.
“In my mind my wheels were on the ground and I’m driving forward and he’s in the air – I can beat him to this turn.
The mindset was, jump that last three and hold it wide open all the way around the outside. I felt like I wasn’t going to get passed and obviously Christian was really fast, we were side by side…I guess he had more momentum than I thought, more momentum than me, he left the gas on. It was a pretty courageous move on his part. He should have gone right around no problem – I guess I should have seen it earlier and hit the brakes earlier. By the time I realised he wasn’t letting off he had a wheel on me, I slammed my brakes but it was too late.
“If you watch it back in slo-mo you can see my back wheel lock up 10 or 15 ft before but we were going so fast in the sand and it was too late. We really didn’t hit that hard, it was just enough to touch and his front end tuck, we were going so fast it just spit him off and looked really, really bad.
“If I could turn back time I would have jumped that three into the turn differently and went inside, probably lost a spot to him railing the outside and been in a lot better position overall, probably a podium. Man, it was the third/fourth turn and I’m leading the race, my mindset is get to that new outside sand very and stay in the lead. It was unfortunate it didn’t work out like that – I honestly didn’t intend to hit him.”
Get the full interview below with Donn Maeda:
Meanwhile, James Stewart said: “I don’t think the pass was dirty. I don’t think Friese meant to take the dude out.” Get his view below:
Podcast! Jonathan McCready and Andy McKinstry discuss Eli Tomac’s win at Glendale, Vince Friese “pass” on Christian Craig (33 minutes in) plus the two international motocross races in Italy and France.
Listen here on iTunes or below on Spotify and YouTube: