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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127187
The winning duo. Roeseler (left) and Parry finil!hed more than 10 minutes
ahead of their ne-.:est competitors - Ashcraft and Pfeiffer.
;,Ind I just got tired. I was just riding
to finish."
KTM's Kelly was the next racer
forced to go solo.
"I screwed my back up," said
teammate Dan Smith. "I jammed it
really bad and I had to let Tom ride
the last loop by himself."
Open Pro challengers Garth Sweetland and Sam Rames were using the
heat to their advantage.
"We didn't have any problems at
all, so we just tried for a good,
consistent ride and let everybody else
fizzle out," said Rames. "They'd get
tired and we'd just ride by them."
Out in front of the pack, Roeseler
and Parry were also enjoying a
trouble-free ride as Parry brought the
KX250 into the pits a full 12 minutes
ahead of the competition halfway
through the final loop.
Kelly brought the Smith/Kelly
KTM into the final pit in second
with Ashcraft taking over the Ashcraft!Pfeiffer Yamaha less than 10
seconds back in third.
Harden and' Wallingsford continued their race~long domination of
the Vet class in fourth overall, the
Sweetland/Rames Honda had
battled up to fifth and Folks and
Cartwright raced through in sixth.
Roeseler looked invincible as he
headed out for the final section of
the race, but he was pushing hard
even with a 12-minute lead.
"I got off in fourth gear - a real
big one in the last loop. It was my
only fall all day but it was a pretty
good one," said' Roeseler. "I was
coming out of a corner in a sandwash
and the back wheel got over the berm,
hit a rock and high-sided. I went
down big-time."
Roeseler tore a finger off one of
his gloves and scraped'his arm, but
was soon back on the bike and
sprinting towards the finish.
After more than seven-and-a-halfhours of racing, the KX250 slid
across the finish line to take the
overall honors and the 250cc Pro
class win, nine' minutes ahead of
their nearest rivals.
'
"The heat got to me in that last
loop and ,the course was getting a
bit choppy, but it was a great race,"
said the Team Green/Malcolm
Smith/Scott/Dunlop/Bel-Ray/ProCircuit/Trick/ArailCTiiAcerbis/
Tsubaki/Smith/PJ l/Scott's' Performance/Sinisalo/Renthal-backed
Roeseler.
The next bike to finish was the
Yamaha/Pro-Circuit/Maxima/
Dunlop/RenthaIlScott/Answer/
. Sinisalo/Acerbis/Clarke Tanksbacked YZ250WR piloted by Ashcraft and Pfeiffer.
Third overall and first in the Over
30 Pro division went to Harden and
Wallingsford, who thanked KTM,
JT Racing, Alpinestar, Duralube
and Dunlop.
Sam Rames brought the Sweetland/Rames CR500 home in fourth
overall to claim the Open Pro honors
with a time of eight hours and one
minute.
The Folks/Cartwright KTM
250DXC romped home in fifth (third
250cc Pro), eight minutes ahead of
Open Pro KTM teammates Smith
and Kelly in sixth.
"I lost a lot of time in the second
loop - I think I got a bit of heat
exhaustion and I fell once, but we
had a great ride in the first and third
loops," said Folks.
"We're not having a goo