VOLUME ISSUE JUNE , P37
It wasn't Roberts' day to pull
back points, as his FMF/Bridge-
stone/Klim-backed 480 RR
suffered a technical issue early,
requiring an unscheduled and
prolonged pit stop.
Smail was only too ready to
assume second place on his
Team Green/Canyon Excava
-
tion/FXR KX250.
"I knew I was pretty far out of
the points [in Pro 250], so I said,
'Ah, you know what—I'm just
going to ride Open and see how
that goes.' It was going good.
I was only 20 seconds behind
Mateo the first lap, then I got a
stick stuck between my forks
and my wheel, so I had to get off
and [lost] about 30 seconds."
The abundance of silt clogged
his air filter so quickly that he
was unable to climb one hill the
next lap, but he eventually fought
his way back to third overall and
second Open Pro, seven sec
-
onds behind Dahners.
For FMF RPM Racing KTM's
Dahners, Mt. Shasta was a time
for redemption after a disap-
pointing season to date.
"I definitely feel more confi-
dent here," he said. "It's a lot like
the mountains by my house. It's
a little more technical, so I don't
feel as much like a fish out of
water here."
He proved that by chasing
down early Pro 250 leader Ryder
Thomaselli, the 395 Motors
-
ports/MX Trophies/Fly Racing
Husqvarna pilot who'd led early
and hovered around the top two
or three overall spots. But he was
unable to hold off Dahners and
his Americool Heating and Air
Conditioning/TBT Racing/Moose
Elite 250 XC-F, who replaced him
at the head of the class and sec
-
ond overall before the white flag
despite some minor tip-overs.
Thomaselli held on for second
Pro 250 and fourth overall, fol
-
lowed by 250cc A winner Lane
Lorenzo. That extended Lo-
renzo's win streak to five out of
five, with the GasGas-supported
Motorex/707 Suspension/Seven
rider unofficially wrapping up the
class championship early.
Colton Aeck holeshot the Pro
250s aboard his Hatch Rac
-
ing/McCarthy Electric/O'Neal
Racing KX250 but lost it when
he hit a rock at speed going up
the first hill. That sent him into
Gainslinger Human Performance
Husqvarna's Cole Zeller, both of
them crashing and restarting in
the back.
Aeck clambered back to sixth
overall and third Pro 250 ahead
of Zeller, Roberts (who finished
third Open Pro), 250cc A runner-
up Lowe Lord on his Senge
Graphics KTM and Guts Racing
KTM-mounted Nic Pacak, the
third 250cc A.
Ava Silvestri made her final
series appearance of the year an
impressive one with her third tri
-
Jaden Dahners won
the Pro 250 class for
the first time since
round two last year and
claimed second overall.
