Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1111003
IN THE WIND P34 America) showed up in Louisiana on an XC 300 two-stroke. The Pennsylvania rider tested the bike in Arkansas the previous week and was impressed with the power and delivery enough to race it. After getting off to a fast start with the fourth-fastest time in test one, Devlin managed a solid fifth overall. "We did a bunch of testing this week on the 300, and we came into the day with just the inten- tions of riding the motorcycle and not worrying about the score," said Devlin. "Every time you come in you check your tests and every- thing. We didn't check any tests. I actually left my phone here, and we just rode; didn't talk about tests; didn't talk about winning. It felt so good." Beta USA teammates Cody Barnes and Mike Witkowski battled over sixth, with Barnes taking the position by 11 seconds over Witkowski. Barnes' finish was good enough for first in the NEPro2 class. "I won the first test and made some mistakes in the second," said Barnes. "Overall the day was good. I didn't make too many mis- takes. I think only two crashes. I was pretty good throughout with limiting mistakes and stuff." Former pro trials rider Ron Commo III (GasGas) balanced his way to ninth overall. Meanwhile, former national winner Cory Buttrick returned to the national enduro series after a long hiatus, filling in for the injured Jake Fro- man on the XC Gear/ Enduro Engineering/ Husqvarna. Buttrick finished in 10 th place. XC Gear/Enduro Engineering/Husqvar- na was also missing the injured Logan Lowrey who will most likely sit out the rest of the season. The team decided to fill the empty seat with a local veteran. Matt Barrett, who was chosen to ride their XC 300, has a long lineage of fam- ily members who have served in the Marines. Matt served eight years in the Marines, part of it in Afghanistan. Matt honored all of his family members and friends who were Marines by putting their names on his side plate. "I can't thank XC Gear, Enduro Engineering and Husqvarna for the great opportunity," said Bar- rett. "I was medically discharged in 2014, and I'm glad to be back home riding dirt bikes with family and friends." Barrett finished 11th in the 30+ B division. Mackenzie Tricker (KTM) was down 36 seconds to defending series champ Tayla Jones (Rock- star Energy/Husqvarna/Moose Husqvarna) going into the final test, but Tricker put in a fantas- tic ride that gave the Mepmx/ Fly/Grizzly Peak/Traveler's Rest Speedway/KTM rider the win in the Women's Elite class. "I knew it would be tough, but I went into the last test to win, and it was my best test of the day," said Tricker. "I think Tayla had a few issues, but it was a hard- fought win, and I'm very pleased." Jones finished second 46 sec- onds behind Tricker, with Am-Pro Yamaha's Rachel Archer in third, another 17 seconds behind Jones. Shan Moore RESULTS OVERALL 1. Grant Baylor (KTM) 2. Steward Baylor (KTM) 3. Russell Bobbitt (KTM) 4. Evan Smith (HUS) 5. Thorn Devlin (GG) 6. Cody Barnes (Beta) 7. Mike Witkowski (Beta) 8. Liam Draper (Hus) 9. Ron Commo III (GG) 10. Cory Buttrick (Hus) Cody Barnes won the NEPro2 class.