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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128322
PHOTO B Y ERICK AVERN NSENSATIQN PHOTO
Maxxls/VP Racing Fuel s Western Fou r-Stroke Nationals
Round 2 : I-S MX
Brown Blazes!
Bess Is Back!
By DON
SCHNEIDER
GORMAN, CA, MAR. 27-28
A t the second ro und of the Western Four/'"\stroke Nationals, Rusty Holland took the
holes ho t in th e 2S0F Pro c lass, with Mike
Brown, Jeff Willoh , Justin Herman and Ti m
Weigand rounding out the top five. Levi Reid,
Shane Bess and Rory Sullivan had Mike Corder
and Shane Smith in their roost.
Brown passed Holland on lap two and he ld
that po sition to the chec ke rs. We igand and
Sullivan passed Willoh on lap three, and Bess
passed Willoh on lap four. By lap eight, Weigand
had succumbed to the thumper train of Sullivan
and Bess. Weigand reta liated as the white flag
waved and new by Bess, and then he pulled an
impressive pass on Sullivan through the J.w.
Sutter Cavern , doubling to the inside for fourth .
Sean Collier too k sixth after starting 16th.
In moto two, Brown, Weig and, Holland ,
Bess and Reid took the ear ly lead . Laughridge,
Matt Karlsen , Reif and Collier tra iled. The front
five held strong right up until the white nag.
Reid passed Bess for fourth and held it to the
finish . Bro wn prevailed over Weigan d and
Holland . Bess was fifth.
In the Premie r class, Rusty Holland was the
quickest of the 67 riders off the line. Following
closely w e re Cameron Weave r and Shane
Smith , w ith Europeans Finbaar Kneafsey and
Fran kie Mecono fourth a nd fifth. Josh Cox,
Matt Burris, Le ighton Lillie, Coll ier and Mike
Metzger rounded out the top 10. Behind the
leaders , a bunch of riders went down,
racing action wasn't confined to the Pro ranks.
The bes t of the batt les took place in the Mini
Exp e rt class, w it h young Cameron Ishmae l
riding his KX I 00 to victory for the second time
this season, beating run ner-up D.J. McMillon by
just 22 seco nds over three laps of racing on the
sandy, whooped -out course .
But tha t was as close as the racing got fo r
th e fast est of t he fast ride rs. Judson Hunter
creamed t he 2S0 cc Expert c lass , finishing
almost 10 minutes ahead of second place with
a n average la p ti me of 26 : I I . Jam es H ill
co nt inued his do minance of t he O pen Expe rt
field w ith his t hird win in as many t ries ; Hill
took the chec kered flag almost fou r minutes
ahead of second place with an average lap time
of 26 :44 ove r five lap s. In th e 12Scc Expert
class, Caleb Ramsay charged to victory with a
m a rgin o f I :34 o ver secon d place a nd an
average la p t im e o f 26 :45 , w h ile Jason
Brisendine too k to p honors in the Four-Stro ke
Expert class wit h an ave rage t ime o f 27:2 1.
Laure n Powe ll rou nded out the ran ks of top
Amateur finishers, t ur ning laps at an ave rage
pace of 29:40 in th e Ladies Expert class, and
Eric Hess sco re d his first win in the Sem i-Pro
class this year with an average lap time of 25:57.
RESULTS
P/W 50 BEG: I. Shelby Fry (KTM); 2. Kaidyn Fanner
(KTM); 3. Jacob Hall (KTM); 04. Colton Caplinger (KTM): 5.
including Jaso n McCormic k, Brandon Morgan,
Chris Gosselaar, Weigand, Gordon Ward and
Matt Gaines.
Turbo Reif, Metzger, Mike Corder, Danie l
Blair, Matt Karlsen and Dusti n Nelson began
the ir charge toward the fro nt. Mecono took
third on lap two, behind Bess , who was now
behind leader Holland. Then Bess blitzed past
Holland for the lead on lap four.
At halfway, it was still Bess, Holland, Smith ,
Metzger and Reif. Brown was sixth .
On lap e ight, both McCormick and Corder
took soil samp les. O n lap 10, Nelson was fifth,
over Metzger, Smith and Burris. Ho llan d
recaptured the lead over on lap I I, but Bess
grabbed it back on the next lap. Reif passed
Brown for third on lap 12. At the end of 14
laps, it was Bess , Holland, Reif, Brown and
Nelson , followed by Metzger, Burris, Smith ,
Sullivanand Laughridge.
In mota two, Holland again nailed the start,
foll o w e d by Brown , Bess , Mecono , Reif,
Gosselaar, Co x, Nelson , Karlsen, Daniel Blair,
Co rder, Metzger, Wea ver and Ch ris Barrett.
Brown took the lead on lap two. Bess passed
Holland on lap five.
At ha lfway, Re if passed Bess for second .
Holland hung in third . Gosselaar and Metzger
were fourth and fifth.
Brown crossed the checkers fir st,
becoming only the th ird rider ever to w in a
moto on a 250F in the Premier class. Reif was
runner-up , with Bess th ird , Holland fo urt h,
Weigand fifth and Metzger sixth .
By virtue of his I ~ 3 scores, 5hane Bess. in
Dane G a llaghe r (Hon). P!W SO NOV: I . Mason Se th
Bow land (KTM): 2. Wyatt Sadler (KTM); 3 . Blake G ustin
(KTM); 1. Bradley Williams (KTM): 5. Tyter Wiggins (KTM).
P/W 50 IN T: I . zachary Barton (KTM): 2. Gaston Johnson
(KTM): 3. Alexand ra Sp