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KTM Super Series
Round 3: River Valley MX
Vemon Drops the
Hammer on the Valleyt
By CHUCK BAll
WATIS, OK, OCT. 22
D ound
three of the KTM Super Series. held at the scenic
~er Valley MX track, was all it promised to be. Full of fun,
fast racing. the KTM Series hit its stride as the third round got
under way. just as the sun began tickling the tops of the pine
trees on the west side of the picturesque race facility.
In moto one of the highly competitive Open Outlaw class,
the riders came storming out of the gate, and leading the way
was Ty Vernon, aboard his Munn Racing-backed KTM 450, just
ahead of Honda jockey Josh Wilson, on his big 450. Out front.
Vernon and Wilson were battling the full length of the track as
they began checking out on the field. Behind the lead duo was
Cody Tye, aboard his Honda CRF250R. fending off the charges
of Corey Puttkamer and Cassidy Gunneman. At the end,
though, it was Vernon securing the top spot, just ahead of Tye.
A late fall in the moto put Wilson back in third, ahead of
Puttkamer and Gunneman.
When the gate fell for the second moto of the Outlaw class,
Vernon used the big horsepower of his KTM to abscond with
the holes hot, over Wilson and crew. Putting pressure on
Vernon, Wilson seemed to be making his presence known. Lap
after lap, Wilson kept the pressure on, but Vernon, riding with
ice-cold nerves, rode his own race to take the second-moto
win, just ahead of his very capable competitor. High-fives and
thumbs-ups were flying between the two after the moto. Tye
took third. ahead of Puttkamer and Gunneman once again.
Vernon and Wilson were far from finished. though. as the
two lined up in the 250cc Novice class. Characteristically for
Vernon, he ripped a huge top-fuel-dragster-style holeshot and
immediately began dropping the proverbial hammer. A5 he had
done earlier, Vernon made no mistakes and rode to victory,
ahead of Wilson and Kenton Kline.
Moto two was again a lesson in starts, as Vernon threw the
coals to his holes hot-catching locomotive and set out to make it
a perfect Saturday night. Wilson, meanwhile, seemed to have
some sort of disagreement with his Honda on lap one and ran
off the end of a corner, stalling his bike. As this happened, Ben
Baker pointed his Honda forward, and he, too, began knocking
down some fast laps, just ahead of yet another Honda rider,
Kline. As the laps wound down, so did Wilson's chances at
catching the rest of the pack, after he had spent a great deal of
time kicking his Honda back to life. Up front, Vernon took the
checkers well ahead of the rest of the field. Baker would wind
up second in the mota as well as overall for his valiant efforts.
j • • iii~@W~
RESULTS
~~~~,;,~~ FRESE ~
SO (4-6): I. Leighton Wilson (KTM): 2. Jonathan Hammock (KTM): 3. Jaden
Jarrett (KTM): 4. Dakota Hutchison (KTM); 5. Tallon Edwards (KTM). SO (7-8):
I. Michael Wright (Pol); 2. Cody Morrow (Han); 3. Dalton Hill (KTM); 4. Braden
Link (KTM). SO OPEN: I. Braden Link (KTM); 2. Jonathan Hammock (KTM); 3.
Jaden Jarrett (KTM); 4. Cody Stanley (Suz); S. Garrett Bielke (Cob). 65 (6-8): I.
Michael Wright (Suz); 2. Braden Link (5uz); 3. Stetson Johnson (Suz); 4. Dylan Van
Zweel (Kaw). 6S (9-11): 1. Riley Hutchison (Kaw): 2. Taylor Asbill (Kaw): 3. Seth
Smith (KTM). 6S OPEN: I. Riley Hutchison (!