before next year when he'll be on
450s full-time) and Rockstar En-
ergy Husqvarna's Austin Walton.
Like Hoeft, Jack Simpson
changed teams and bikes over
the winter, also landing on the
Purvines Racing squad. And like
his new teammate, he holeshot
the Pro II line aboard his Dunlop/
Maxima/O'Neal Racing YZ250FX
before a flawless ride to the class
win and ninth overall ahead of
Chaparral Motorsports/Precision
Concepts Kawasaki's Zach Bell
(450cc).
"It always is a little bit daunt-
ing being a Pro rider and jumping
onto a new bike, new chassis,"
Simpson said. "But I did probably
10, 15 hours on it back in Aus-
tralia with this same suspension
setup that I'm racing today so I
did get used to it.
"The race played out exactly
how I planned it: holeshot, don't
panic, just cruise, cruise along
and make the right decision with
the lines, don't get stuck and keep
clean and stay up."
FMF/RPM Racing KTM's Gus
Riordan kept fellow Aussie Simp
-
son in sight until his bike ran low
on coolant, forcing him to back
off until he could pit. He held
onto second in class and 13th
overall, 17 seconds back with 3
Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna's
Kai Aiello rounding out the Pro II
podium.
Three-time and reigning Pro
Women champ Brandy Richards
demonstrated great mud skills
aboard her Motorex/FMF/Fly Rac
-
ing 250 XC-F, thanks in part to her
occasional forays into GNCCs.
(Since she's racing the 250cc Pro
class in WORCS this season, she
opted to park her 350.) Richards
placed 30th overall as well with 3
Bros./Hatch Racing Gas Gas rider
Ava Silvestri and 3 Bros. KTM-
mounted high school water polo
star Mikayla Nielsen rounding out
the Pro Women podium.
Mark Kariya
PRO
1. Ryan Surratt (Hon)
2. Dare DeMartile (Bet)
3. Dante Oliveira (KTM)
4. Cole Martinez (Hon)
5. Mateo Oliveira (KTM)
6. Justin Hoeft (Yam)
7. Lyndon Snodgrass (Kaw)
8. Austin Walton (Hus)
9. Jack Simpson (Hon) Pro 2
10. Zach Bell (Kaw)
P42
Back on a 250, Brandy
Richards put her
growing GNCC skills
to work in the Delano
muck. Will 2023 be her
fourth-straight season
to go undefeated?
After a somewhat slow
start, Noah Kovarik took
the lead on the third lap
to top the NGPC 65cc
Senior class and overall
the combined 50cc/65cc/
Junior Girls race.
