ed it, like a little reality check,
like, 'Calm down, dude!' All in all,
I think it was good for me."
Behind him, though, the order
was decidedly less settled.
Surratt had a mediocre start
(as a motocrosser, he's unfamil-
iar with the dead-engine starts
which are now mandatory in
NGPC) but made some moves
on his Pro Circuit/Pirelli/Fly Rac-
ing CRF450RX to complete the
first lap in seventh. Having won
more than he's lost so far this
year, he picked off rider after
rider, finally climbing into second
place less than an hour in.
"I got close to Dante, but once
I got close to him, we got into
lappers and the lappers would
let him by then push me off the
track, so I started losing time
[when that happened], then we
went back and forth," Surratt
said. "Overall, it was still a really
good day. I showed everybody
I've got the speed on wet dirt
and dry dirt. I came from the
back and made a lot of passes
on a track that you can't really
make too many passes on."
But Martinez had even more
ground to make up after getting
off the line last when his Mon-
ster Energy/Lava Propane/Fly
Racing CRF450RX balked at the
dead-engine start.
"I knew I had my work cut
out," he said. "I didn't get to
ride practice yesterday due to
some family stuff, but I made
the most of [track time today].
I really had to be smart and
be focused today. I feel like I
focused really good and I'm
happy with how it turned out.
Maybe at the halfway mark,
I was like, 'All right, I need to
make it happen. Big picture, if
you want to [have a shot at the
championship], you've got to
make it happen!'"
Surratt retains the points lead
with 55 compared to Oliveira at
51 and Martinez at 39.
Hoeft held on for fourth, which
is where he also sits in points at
33. Ninth early on, Rockstar En
-
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P41
FIM EnduroGP regular
Kade Tinkler-Walker won
Pro II against a stacked
field of regulars in his
first try at an NGPC.
Brandy Richards
(pictured) dominated
the Pro Women class
decisively, finishing
21st overall. Mikayla
Nielsen was second in
only her second start
in the class with Ava
Silvestri third.
