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Mitch Ropelato won JrX downhill earlier in the afternoon and took home the MTX victory quite easily. Regardless of what gate was used, Mitch and the fastest guys proved they had whatever skills necessary to finish on top. Pro racer, Brian Buell, said that he, Mitch, J.D. Swanguen (all MTX podium finishers) and others were in favor of the pro drop gate. However, these opinions for the gate, as well as those opinions against the gate, were not expressed at any rider meeting and the fiasco was fueled. Riders had their opinion, but none cared enough to bring it up at the sanctioned meeting. Any rider who tried to privately and individually influence USAC official decisions for or against the gate, was not being fair to their fellow competitors. Let's move on and hope USAC gives course design input, does their course inspections properly and competitors pipe up in future rider meetings so this doesn't happen again.
Credit
Spomer
