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/1125433
IN THE WIND P32 awake for and watched!), he ad- mitted, "I was a little worried after this all happened that we weren't going to be able to find riders to cover [my section] because I had a pretty long section, but we were still able to put it together." Third bike to the finish in 12:14:36.28 and first in Pro Moto Limited was the Monkey Business Workshop/Monster Energy/Nitro Mousse-sponsored KTM 350 XC-F with riders San- tiago Creel/Alvaro Miller/Carlos Miranda/Alejandro Sardi/Larry Serna. "It was really tough and per- sonally I had a big crash at mile 70," Sardi said. "We broke the lights, the front fender. The team got everything perfect—we got the bike fixed, and it was nice to go from the back [of the pack] because I didn't pre-run the first section, so I had to go blind at 4 a.m. All the guys went by me by the river, and we had to go pick them off one by one, and it was satisfying [so] now this champagne tastes better! When I crashed, I thought it was over." Veterans Shane Esposito and Francisco Septien teamed up for the Pro Moto 30 victory, finishing fourth bike overall in 12:20:35.38 despite both riders crashing at least once. Another Creel-captained team (this one with Mitch Anderson, Massimo Mangini, Brandon Pri- eto and Taylor Stevens) finished fifth bike overall in 12:22:40.35 and third in Pro Moto Unlimited after Prieto crashed and broke both wrists around mile 60. They lost a lot of time getting the bike going again and extracting Prieto. (Remarkably, he had surgery in Ensenada to get screws in both hands and made it to Estero to watch the finish a few hours later!) As Anderson explained, "Once Brandon went down and broke both of his wrists, we had to switch up the strategy. Some riders got quite a bit more added to their section so I took the last 40-plus miles and rode it to the finish [from 350]. I had a few close calls—one oncoming car on the road in Camalu, but my ride was, thankfully, uneventful [otherwise]." Other class winners included Steve Roberts/Paul Thomas in Pro Moto 40; John Griffin/ Jim O'Neal/Troy Pearce/Earl Roberts/Giovanni Spinali in Pro Moto 50; Tanner Janesky in Pro Moto Ironman; and Don Crane/ Tyler Evangelista/Steve Herstad/ Dakota Hilbride/Nick Robertson/ Shane Schorno in Sportsman Moto. But this 500 definitely be- longed to SLR Honda, Samuels hinting at more of the same in the last half of the series. "Each race, we've gotten a lot better and a lot better [getting the new bike dialed in], and I think we learned a lot this race on mak- ing a few more changes, too, to make it even better for the 1000," Samuels said. In other words, SLR Honda's challengers will need to work overtime to beat the reigning champs who are now halfway to a second consecutive unbeaten season. Mark Kariya Third in Pro Moto Unlimited, Mitch Anderson (left) and Brandon Prieto (who broke both wrists during the race) chat with Alejandro Sardi, who rode on the Pro Moto Limited- winning team.