Defending Champs Take Desert Challenge
D
esert racers flocked to the
riverside city of Laughlin,
Nevada, for the King Shocks
Laughlin Desert Challenge, the
penultimate round for Best In The
Desert's prestigious American
Off-Road Racing Series Cham-
pionship. Defending Champions
Hayden Hintz and Trevor Hunter
scored 1-1 results over the two
days of racing, besting the field
on both days of racing.
On the calendar since 1997,
the classic event is typically
reserved for cars and trucks, but
a last-minute schedule change
introduced motorcycles, quads
and UTVs to the schedule. Per
usual for BITD races, the motor-
cycles made first tracks bright
and early each morning, setting
the pace for the rest of the day
on the 17-mile loop, with five laps
of racing each day.
On day one of competition,
the N1 machine (Hintz/Hunter)
rocketed off the line first, leading
the 10 other Pro teams into the
dusty desert. In hot pursuit were
the N4 (Broderick/Reynolds)
and N2 (Newton) teams trying
to hold pace with Hunter. With a
few miles of watered racecourse
off the start, riders were able
to push the pace and shuffle
through the field before hitting
the traditional dusty sections.
The N4 Husqvarna briefly
passed into the lead, overtak-
ing Hunter, but wasn't able to
hold pace with the N1 Yamaha.
While the top two teams led the
charge, Jeremy Newton trailed
close in third overall, with plans
to skip a fuel pit in an effort to
save time and hopefully pass the
others in the process. Unfor-
tunately, Newton came up just
IN
THE
WIND
P32
Trevor Hunter (left)
and Hayden Hintz
successfully defended
their title BITD Laughlin
Desert Challenge
Championship.
PHOTOS: HARLEN FOLEY
