Tyler Collingwood
Mark Fineis is quickly making a name for himself this outdoor season. The Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX rookie has been on the rise each week so far, and this past weekend at Redbud was no different. Fineis had his best finish of his rookie season, but he’s still not happy with where he’s at. Oh yeah, he was possibly the only 250 rider to try LaRocco’s Leap.
“(It was a) bit of a struggle,” is what Fineis would tell Swapmoto Live in an interview after the race. Which is not something you’d typically hear from someone who just had the best finish of their pro career, at a gnarly track, with possibly the biggest RedBud crowd ever. Fineis would finish the weekend with a 11-12 for a 10th overall, making this his first top ten.
Fineis would go on to say that he struggled with suspension all weekend and they could just never dial it in to what he wanted. His goal at the beginning of the season was to at least get a top ten, which he did, but not the way he wanted. “I want to get at least a tenth in a Moto, but 11-12 for 10th overall, we will definitely take it and definitely build,” Fineis said. “We’re happy with it.”
After a rough weekend for the whole ClubMX crew at Southwick, this had to be a huge boost of confidence for not only Fineis, but for the whole team. While Fineis still seems to kind of struggle in qualifying, he keeps hitting his mark when it’s race time. There have been plenty of riders over the years who struggle with qualifying but come race time it’s a whole new person.
Fineis said he struggled with line choices. “It’s like trying to double your way through the track with all these big braking bumps and potholes, just the skinniest of the ruts and how deep it was,” Fineis said. “It would just grab your side knobbies, it was really hard to manage for me.”
As we head into Millville this weekend, I’d expect Fineis to continue doing what he has done all year, progressing a little each week. His starts were pretty damn good this weekend as he came out 13th both Motos and managed to keep the bike towards the front even with two small tip overs in the second Moto. If he keeps up the same pace, this will be a common name we will see in the top ten for now on.
Main Image: Octopi Media
