Michael ’ s AmPro Yamaha teammate Steward Baylor finished just 0.7 seconds behind Michael on Saturday , and was in position to challenge for the win on Sunday , but a high-speed crash in the second Cross test slowed the South Carolina rider , leaving him to finish second overall for the weekend .
“ I had a pretty solid day one , but I made a bad tire choice and that cost me some time ,” said Baylor . “ I was less than a second off of Layne at the end of day one , so I kind of tried to crawl back into it on day two . I felt really good in the Cross test . Again , a bad tire selection on Sunday cost me . I feel like it was something I shouldn ’ t have done . So in a really fast turn , the rear end stepped out and I went tumbling . That was the fastest crash I ’ ve ever had in my life . I was still trembling when I got back . I lost thirty seconds there . I didn ’ t even know if I was going to line up for the next test . I hit my head pretty hard . I was like , we ’ re still in it for a possible championship , so I was able to crawl back out from fourth back up to second on the day and second for the weekend .”
Baylor won two Enduro tests on Saturday and two on Sunday .
Tely Energy Racing KTM ’ s Liam Draper finished third overall , proving he ’ s a consistent podium finisher .
“ I actually found it pretty good in the Cross test this weekend , where I
VOL . 6 ISSUE 6 - JUNE 2021 // PAGE 121