Bell Towers Above All In Taft NGPC Win
I
n what's becoming a predictable script, Chapar-
ral Motorsports/Precision Concepts Kawasaki's
Zach Bell gave his competitors no chance once he
got in front—which happened as soon as he got to
the first turn of the Dirt Diggers Motorcycle Club's
Taft Grand Prix, round two of the FMF AMA Nation-
al Grand Prix Championship (NGPC) Series, Febru-
ary 8-9, at Honolulu Raceway in Taft, California.
At the end of the 90-minute, $8000 feature
race, the Pro Circuit/Maxima/Moose Racing-
backed KX450 rider enjoyed a cushion of one
minute and 21 seconds over FMF/Maxxis/RPM
Racing KTM's Dante Oliveira who was just six
seconds ahead of third-place Cole Martinez of the
Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda squad.
"I knew the start was going to be key today," Bell
said. "It was slick, it was one-lined, it was hard to
be fast [plus] a little bit of dust so I knew I had to
get out front [quickly] and that's what I did. I was
really aggressive off the start and just put my laps
in and managed [the race]. I kept my eye on those
two to see if they were catching me at all, but I was
IN
THE
WIND
P44
Zach Bell (100)
claimed his second
victory of the AMA
NGPC season after
battling eventual
third-place finisher
Cole Martinez (34)
and runner-up Dante
Oliveira (356).
