For most of Josh Grant's career, his results have been spiked by moments of brilliance, and flashes of disaster. We can all remember days when JG was the fastest rider on the track, but unfortunately we have also seen way too many spectacular crashes from the Californian—and often the great moto and the great crash would all come on the same day!
At Steel City, though, he was the one playing the consistency game, and it paid off for him. In moto one, Star-Valli Rockstar Yamaha's Nico Izzi rode strong early and moved his YZ450F into fourth, ahead of Davi Millsaps and Grant. Grant later passed 'Saps, but Izzi looked ready to hold onto a solid spot until he crashed on an uphill rhythm section (unfortunately, Izzi is starting to take that fast here/crash there mantle in the 450 Class). Izzi gamely remounted and grinded out an eighth-place finish, and then did the same in the second moto, but he admitted that the crash "pretty much took it out for me for the rest of the day."
Josh Grant celebrates his first podium of 2012.
Andrew Fredrickson photo
Izzi also said he thinks a podium is within reach, and Grant proved that fourth-place finishes in the motos can get you there.
Although Andrew Short thought he had a podium headed his way, too. After a second in moto one, his best ride of the outdoor season, Shorty crashed with Kyle Chisholm in moto two, and his bike was simply too bent to continue. Grant, solid all day, didn't take any chances. With rain coming down in moto two, he got some water in his goggles and couldn't see, so he let Jake Weimer go with the third-place spot and calmly kept his Jeff Ward Racing Kawasaki humming en route to fourth again. In the end, the 4-4 scores were good enough for a podium, while Izzi and Short had crashes mar what could have been a great day.
It's the kind of thing Grant has seen happen to him before—and more than likely has used those moments to learn how to prevent it from happening to him again.
