Justin Hill ripped on his Autotrader/Yoshimura Suzuki RM-Z450 in Tampa, winning his heat and fighting for the lead in the main event before bumping into Marvin Musquin and crashing. Hill has said for years he can't wait to get on a 450 to race against smarter, more experienced riders. But even he learned a lesson in Tampa—the 450 establishment is even craftier than he realized.
Hill says he loved the experience of racing older, smarter riders, and he's going to soak it up with a sponge.
"It's a thinking man's class, less hairball. Way more enjoyable," Hill said. "I have so much respect for the sport, and it requires finesse. I was happy to ride with those guys, and that move with Marvin, that was a perfect example of thought. He knew he didn't have to rush the corner. He had no way to lose by doing what he did. He did that, and me, the brand-new guy, I was like 'I've gotta get him!' That's not normally me. I got excited, and truthfully I just wanted to get by him because I knew Eli was right there. I made, probably, passes that probably didn't make Eli or Cooper [Webb] happy. They were good passes, I didn't hit him hard, but it was one of those things where, if I'm Eli Tomac, the guy with all the speed on the 450, I probably shouldn't pass him."
He'll give it another shot this weekend in Atlanta. Check out this entire post-race interview with Justin and see just how happy he was about the night, and also how serious he is about succeeding the next time.
