Team Nicholson/KTM Wins
Glen Helen 24 Hour
A
record turnout of 78 teams
lined up at this year's 3Bros
24 Hours of Glen Helen Race-
way, October 28-29, with the
team of Tyler Nicholson, RJ War-
da, Thomas Dunn and Clayton
Roberts (KTM) putting together
the best race over the course
of 24 straight hours, taking the
coveted overall victory.
As the clock struck 10 a.m.
Saturday, the Open Pro/Expert
bikes fired to life with a fast
field of riders barreling into the
famous Talladega first turn.
As one might expect, retired
Arenacross/Supercross racer
Jacob Hayes, on the number-24
Kawasaki, quickly took the lead
around the first few turns on
the motocross track, riding on a
Kawasaki/Precision Concepts-
backed KX450X with teammates
Jacob Argubright, Zach Spano
and Mario Testa.
The first lap saw an intense
battle between Hayes and Blayne
Thompson (number 228), riding
a Skaggs Racing/TAS Insurance
Services Honda CRF450X, with
the two going bar to bar for the
first 19-minute lap. Sitting just
a few seconds behind in third,
Clay Hengeveld piloted the
DirtBikeTest/1-800-Dent-Doc Ya
-
maha YZ450FX to stay in sight of
the leaders in the opening stages
of the long, grueling race.
One hour into the race, the
number-4 Yamaha team with
Hengeveld, Tyler Belknap, Trevor
Hunter and Nic Garvin passed
the number-24 Kawasaki team
(Hayes) to move into the lead.
Hot on their heels, Tyler Nichol
-
son's KTM moved in on the front
runners, setting up for a three-
horse battle in the early stages.
Mere hours into the race, the
Kawasaki squad started expe-
riencing some small but time-
consuming mechanical issues,
forcing them to lose valuable
minutes to the two front run
-
ners, though they stayed close
enough to still be in contention
in a race of this magnitude.
VOLUME ISSUE OCTOBER , P49
The Tyler Nicholson
team was this year's
overall winner at the
24-Hours of Glen Helen.
PHOTOS: MARK RIKER
