Cycle News

IN THE WIND P38 stuff and I'm getting better. It was pretty fast, so you always had to be on your toes. The first day, I felt good all day. I won three out of the six tests. It was a good day, especially being able to beat Taylor in one of the enduro tests. So, I came into day two ready. It was all or nothing. We were going so fast, it was almost getting a little out of hand. I kept up with the pace a little bit. But this is [Taylor's] home track, so to be that close to him, especially in the rocks, that felt really good." Sutherlin caught a stom- ach virus and suffered his way through the weekend. Despite his health issues, Sutherlin rode consistently on his KTM and came home with his second podium of the season. "It was a rough weekend, but we pushed through and got on the box," said Sutherlin. "I'm just happy to salvage what I could on a bad day. The course was awesome and they did a great job." In what is becoming one of the most competitive classes on the tour, Cooper Abbott (KTM) won the Open A class. JT Baker was second ahead of Clayton Hengeveld. Abbott had trouble with consistency on day one, but made up for on day two, while both Baker and Hengeveld suffered from a mistake on the same test. "I didn't ride super well on the first day, but I picked it up on day two," said Abbott. "JT and Clay are riding really well, but both of them made a mistake in one test, which allowed me to pull away a little bit. JT and I are tied in points right now, so we're just going to keep the ball rolling into Mesquite." Baker rode his two-stroke GasGas, using the machine's torque to power through the rock sections and sand whoops. Baker won the season opener with consistency throughout, but that consistency left him on day two and put him second in the final tally. "Yesterday I won more tests than today," said Baker on the final day. "I made a lot of mistakes today." Hengeveld finished third for the second straight time. He had issues on day one, but powered his way back onto the podium on the second day. "I struggled all day long yesterday, but I pulled my head together today and rode pretty decent," said Hengeveld. "I'm definitely going to learn from this one and keep pushing." In Lites A, Mateo Oliveira (GasGas) won his second race in as many rounds. Oliveira made his way through the rocks and bravely kept it pinned through the whoops section of the mo- tocross course. Tyler Nicholson and Blake Donatelli rounded out the podium. "It was super rocky and slick, so I just tried to stay as consis- tent as possible," said Oliveira. "The straightaway in the back with the whoops had a lot of peo- ple crashing and it was sketchy for me a couple of times. I just had to go wide open through it to put down a good time." Harlen Foley OVERALL 1. Taylor Robert (KTM) 2. Zach Bell (Kaw) 3. Gary Sutherlin (KTM) 4. Colton Haaker (Hus) 5. Dante Oliviera (GG) 6. Ty Tremaine (Bet) 7. Cole Shondeck (Hon) 8. Michael Delfante (Kaw) 9. Cooper Abbott (KTM) 10. Mateo Oliveria (GG) Gary Sutherlin filled out the overall podium in third.

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