Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1379564
Serpa Tops Timber Mountain West Hare Scrambles T he last time Kenda KTM rider Austin Serpa stood atop a premier-class podium at a major race was back in 2018 when he emerged triumphant at a WORCS event. "I got a bunch of podiums in 2019—I just never won. Then I got a bunch of podiums in 2020 before I got shoulder surgery; I just never won," he said. Since then, he's enjoyed a few others victories in the 250cc division, which he's concentrated on, but he looked forward to an- other win on his 450. Serpa final- ly made it happen at the Timber Mountain Hare Scramble hosted by the Motorcycle Riders As- sociation (MRA) in Jacksonville, Oregon, May 29-30, that served as round three of the AMA West Hare Scrambles Regional Cham- pionship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport—just his second start of the season. Joining him on the podium were Fun Country KTM teammates Blake Best who led most of the afternoon before sliding out on the final lap and third-place Chase Larson who remains the points leader over the surging Serpa, 57-55. The race didn't start well for Serpa, however. He found him- self somewhat distracted by the canon shot that signaled the start and instead waited for the green flag to wave while Larson got the early lead aboard his Watachi Racing/PDR Suspension Tech- nologies/Fly Racing 450 XC-F. "Honestly, it was my race to lose," Larson recounted. "I got a good start and I had it all—I was leading, [had] clear air and just made a mistake and went down. First, Blake got by me then Serpa was behind me so I was trying to make it as dusty as I could behind me and keep him back (laughs), but I ended up blowing another corner and he ended up getting by me so I kind of stopped pushing and tried to stay consistent and ride my own race and stay on two wheels." That put Best in the driver's seat in clean air (until he began to catch lappers) on his Kreft/ DeVol/Fly Racing 350 XC-F. Halfway through, he stretched his lead to almost a minute and a half over Serpa before dropping his bike on the last lap. "I'm pretty disappointed, to say the least," Best lamented. "I came out today really wanting to win and really doing good. Being the Washington native, I thought I had a real chance out here in the woods." Serpa admitted, "I was getting close to him, and I was getting in his dust, and I was like, 'Man, I don't know if I can make a pass— it's really dusty!' Then I came around a turn on one of the fire roads and he had slid out and fell over so I was able to sneak by him, too, which I was pretty stoked about." Coming off a decent start, Devin Watson worked his way up through the pack all afternoon IN THE WIND P64 New to the series at round two, Austin Serpa has taken to it well with two podiums including the win at round three—the Timber Mountain Hare Scrambles in the Oregon forests.