Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1527275
WIND IN THE P54 from Oliveira and the rest of the field, padding his lead lap after lap to comfortably take his first NGPC overall win in dominant fashion. Behind him, the battle raged as Simpson kept Dante honest lap after lap, trading times and keep - ing the FMF Red Bull KTM rider within striking distance. In the end, Dante held tough to finish second on the day, maintaining a healthy championship points lead heading into the penultimate round in a month's time. Simpson, one of many successful Austra - lian racers in the series, earned his first career 450 podium in the NGPC series. New SLR Honda recruit Ryan Surratt rejoined the series in Ridgecrest in his first outing for the Honda factory-supported team af - ter riding for the JCR Honda team in 2023. Surratt's poor start relegat- ed him near the back of the pack on the opening lap, but the former MX racer worked up to fourth by lap two and matched Oliveira and Simpson's pace through the rest of the race, finishing a handful of seconds behind the two podium finishers. SLR Honda teammate Tyler Lynn earned his best finish of the season, finishing behind his new teammate to round out the top five. In the Pro II ranks, 3Bros Hatch Husqvarna's Kai Aiello rocketed off to the holeshot and led a good portion of the race. Aiello's early speed was matched by FMF RPM KTM Racing Team's JP Alvarez, who both controlled the class through the first hour of the race. Aiello led Alvarez for much of the first hour, but Alvarez stopped in the pits one lap early to let the dust settle and make up a few valuable seconds before Aiello was forced to pit. As the racers started the next lap, Alvarez's pit strategy paid off as he blitzed Aiello at the pit exit and took over the race lead. Lurking behind the two was Hatch Racing Kawasaki's Colton Aeck who kept the front two in sight in the opening laps before slowly chipping away at the lead. With all the pit stops out of the way, the three put on a show as they battled for the coveted win for two full laps. As the race wore on, Aeck was able to maintain pace just a little bit longer, stretching his lead into the final lap to take the victory ahead of Alvarez and Aiello, with cham - pionship points leader and Aussie standout Mason Semmens finish- ing in fourth, just weeks after an ankle surgery to repair an injury. Fellow Australian Sam Pretschar rounded the top five in his best performance of the year. The Pro Women's class was another display of dominance from Mikayla Nielsen. The hole - shot went to GasGas' Ava Silves- tri, but "KayKay" quickly powered to the front on her SLR Honda CRF250RX and checked out, sprinting away from her competi - tion in the early laps and earning her sixth victory of the year. Sil- vestri ran a strong pace early, but a mechanical issue slowed her pace and relegated her to second on the day. Trevor Hunter Overall Pro 1. Dare DeMartile (Bet) 2. Dante Oliveira (KTM) 3. Jack Simpson (Yam) 4. Ryan Surratt (Hon) 5. Tyler Lynn (Hon) 6. Mateo Oliveira (KTM) 7. Giacomo Redondi (Gas) 8. Colton Aeck (Kaw) Pro II 9. Austin Walton (Hus) 10. JP Alvarez (KTM) Pro II Colton Aeck took the Pro II-class win. Mikayla Nielsen won again in the Women's Pro class.