Dante and the number-64 duo of
Carter Klein and Clayton Roberts
had built up a small gap over the
rest of the field who all battled the
treacherous rocks, dust, fog and
mud strewn throughout the eight-
mile course.
The KTM powerhouse led for
the first hour, but a hard-charging
Klein/Roberts team took over the
lead for nearly two hours on their
own KTM 450 XC-F. While the
number-64 and the KTM num
-
ber-116 teams battled up front,
Tyler Nicholson's squad held tight
in third for much of the early race.
After getting back into the lead
around 11 a.m., the KTM hot
-
shots held the lead to the finish,
despite several pit stops making
repairs and adjustments as they
performed some real-world race
testing en-route to victory.
Unfortunately, after dropping
back to second, a rear-wheel issue
cost Klein a few valuable minutes,
as they lost ground to the leaders
and a position back to third on
track while making the repairs.
Following Klein's problems, Tyler
Nicholson and team held steady
in second overall for most of the
day as nearly all teams, including
theirs, had several pit stops for
mechanicals throughout the day.
In the closing hours, Nicholson's
KTM 450 XC-F went into the pits
for a few extra minutes, allowing
Klein's team to close within a few
seconds of the runner-up position.
The final six laps saw a tight battle
with several position changes as
they split the endless lappers and
fellow racers who were in a race
of their own.
A fresher trio of riders on team
Nicholson's number-710 KTM
pulled out a comfortable 30-sec
-
ond gap over Klein heading
onto the last lap, but misfortune
struck a few corners from the
finish. With the checkers in sight,
the number-710 crashed out in
a violent wreck. Luckily, the rider
was able to get up and walk
away while the team brought the
bike into the finish for a hard-
earned third overall on the day
behind Klein/Roberts.
Rounding out the top five was
Colton Udall's team, which held
a consistent pace all race long,
and Nick Stover's trio, which
overcame a huge deficit in the
early laps to finish fifth.
Trevor Hunter
Overall
1. Ryan Morais (KTM)
2. Carter Klein (KTM)
3. Tyler Nicholson (KTM)
4. Colton Udall (Hon)
5. Nick Stover (KTM)
VOLUME ISSUE JUNE , P45
Tyler Nicholson nearly put it all
together to finish runner-up, but
heartbreak struck in a last-lap
crash resulting in the bronze.
With countless wins
under his belt, Colton
Udall still shows up
with stellar speed and a
proven program ready
to contend for the win.
