Zuidema Claims OMA P-Town XC Win
T
he OMA Nationals season
opener, The Prophetstown
XC presented by Rock River
Arms and co-sanctioned with
MXC and IERA, was held April
11 at Bill Gusse's Prophet-
stown, Illinois off-road motor-
cycle track. Local racer Cole
Zuidema (Moose Racing/G2
Ergonomics) collected the win
after a strong and consistent
ride aboard his 2020 KTM 350
XCF. The Yamaha YZ250X of
Jayson Crawford Fly Racing/
G2 Ergonomics took second
place, followed by Colt Con-
verse aboard the Team Mercer
County/G2 Ergonomics Kawa-
saki KX450.
Many of the nearly 300 racers
at the event arrived with con-
cerns regarding track conditions,
as most drove through heavy
rains on Saturday to reach the
venue. Everyone was happily
surprised to see the high sand
content soil had simply wicked
up all the water and became a
solid racecourse. With steady
rain for two days, a dirt trail would
have been a quagmire. Instead,
the sand simply firmed up and
provided a good base for racing.
When the Pro-Am row took
their start, it was David Stickel
getting the holeshot on his
KTM, only to be wiped out at the
second turn. Stickel gathered
himself back up and soldiered on
to finish in 16th place.
Following the second-turn
melee, Jayson Crawford took the
point. "I got a second-place start,
then quickly got in to first," he
said. "I rode in first for a little bit,
then Cole Zuidema got around
me and I stayed in second the
entire race."
IN
THE
WIND
P58
Cole Zuidema opened
the 2021 OMA Series
with a win in Illinois.
PHOTOS: JOHN GASSO
