away that fast was a surprise."
Still, finishing third in Open Pro
and 14th overall exceeded his
goal by one position and kept the
Red Bull/Motorex/Alpinestars
450 XC-F rider top in overall
AA points by a single digit over
Thomaselli, 62-61.
Though the Fort Sage Off-
Highway Vehicle Area is primar
-
ily faster-paced high desert trails,
250s seemed to excel at this
race, with seven of the top 10
overall spots taken by Pro 250s
who'd started on the second row.
Fastest among them was a very
happy Zeller on his Gainslinger
Human Performance/Precision
Concepts/O'Neal Racing Husqvar
-
na FX 250 in his first visit to Fort
Sage. Despite the gap to the Open
Pros on row one, he quickly moved
up to second overall by the end of
the first lap and held that spot for
the last hour, though Roberts was
too far ahead to catch.
"It kind of felt like the farm in
some ways, like the trails by my
house," he said. "I just gelled with
it. The first lap was a little hectic.
I had clear track for a little bit [af
-
ter getting the holeshot over FMF
RPM Racing KTM's Jaden Dahn-
ers] and as soon as I got in the
dust [from the Open Pros], I was
like, 'Oh man! I hope I can still
keep a good pace.' I made a pass
on one of the 450cc Pro guys,
and then I had clear track for the
next two laps, so I was able to
put in some good laps and get
some time on Thomaselli and
kind of rode it in from there."
Having won Pro 250 at round
two and given that Fort Sage is
very much like where he normally
practices, Thomaselli and his
395 Motorsports/MX Trophies/
Fly Racing FX 250 were gunning
for the win but had to settle for
second in class and an impres
-
sive third overall, a minute and
two seconds behind Zeller.
After suffering a concussion
at the beginning of the year
in the opening Hare & Hound,
Colton Aeck had struggled to
regain his early-season form, but
it seemed to finally return at the
Golden Egg as he finished third
WIND
IN THE
P44
Cole Zeller enjoyed a
banner day: not only did
he win the Pro 250 class
for the first time, but he
was also second overall
behind Roberts.
