IN
THE
WIND
P42
Fernandez Tops VXCS Hare Scrambles
T
he second round of the AMA
East Hare Scrambles Cham-
pionship visited Martinsville,
Virginia, March 1, where Josh
Deal and his crew combined
efforts with the EHS crew to put
on a phenomenal event in the
Virginia mountains. Approximately
350 racers fought it out in prime
racing conditions.
The morning youth event had
35 racers from the Northeast and
the Mid-Atlantic, and the track
tested both their high-speed and
low-speed technical abilities.
The overall winner came from the
third row and that was 12-year-old
(12-15) 85cc-class racer Braden
Meyers (Yamaha).
Supermini (12-13) racer Austin
Tsakanikas (KTM) led the first two
laps but crashed on the third lap and
was forced to take it down a notch
and ultimately finish third overall.
Second overall went to (14-15)
Supermini Racer Vince "Spicey"
Caramanna (Suzuki).
Approximately 20 Pee Wee
50s ran a shortened Youth
course. First overall went to
Jackie Pugh, second to Raylan
Franklin and third to Scarlett
Leebeck.
The main event combined
300 Pro, A, B and C racers on a
9.5-mile course. The course led
the racers into fun-filled roller-
coaster ride of single-track and
carting roads. After the second
lap the small mud holes became
large parcels of bike-swallowing
ruts. You had to choose your
lines carefully before taking the
plunge, and the ever-evolving ter-
rain meant riders had to choose
different lines each lap.
On the first lap, 2019 AMA
East Champion Kyle Mcdonal
(Beta) held a slight lead over
second place, Dustin Klotter. Un-
fortunately for both Mcdonal and
Klotter, Max Fernandez (KTM),
from the A-200cc-class line, set
the fastest lap time and quickly
became the overall leader.
On lap two, Fernandez took
the point away from McDonal,
who stayed on Fernandez for the
three remaining laps, exchanging
the physical lead several times.
Both McDonal's and Fernan-
dez' pit crew were put to the test,
gambling for a later pit just prior
to the white flag.
Robby Norwood began chip-
ping away at the rest of the group
and secured third. Norwood
could actually see Fernandez
and McDonal battling, but in the
end, but he couldn't keep their
pace.
At the finish, it was Fernandez
holding on for the win over Mc-
donal and Norwood.
The top C riders were School-
boy 2 racer Kenito Held (Suzuki),
C-200 rider Dalten Robbins
(KTM) and C-200 rider Alex
Lorber (KTM).
Kenny Held
Max Fernandez (center) was the overall winner at the SRT AMA
East Hare Scrambles race in Virginia.
