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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542341
Tofi, CA OFF-ROAD Round r Februory 4-5, 2()06 AMA D-:17 Big 5/Xbux.Com Championship Grand Prix Series ( \P ,} ._v Jo.y tonro (X2OO} gor our in f"ont eorly in the 25(k( Expert clq5s. Ene olr-roao communrty na5 I added another ex-National I rnoaoa.os nder to its ranks. I Ru.," Holland came out ro I ,n" Honolulu Hills MX Park for the opening round of the AMA D-37 Big 6 Grand Prix Series to make his off- road racinB debut. Holland rode the Unclassified race to get a feel for the course layout, and, two races later, he served notice that he is capable of run- ning with the top off-road riders in the Heavyweight Four-Stroke and 250cc Expert divisions. More than 220 riders lined up for the start of mce three. which combined the big-bore four-stroke classes and the 250cc classes on alternating start lines, and KTM rider Kellon \{alch jumped off the line first to claim the holeshot. But Robby Bell snuck by Walch in the lirst corner, and Holland and WORCS Champion Nathan Woods followed them onto the mcecourse. "l knew I had to get in the lead real quick, because there were like 50 riders on our line," the American Honda/ Precision Concepts CRF4SOR-mounted Bel, said- "Holland passed me when we started getting mixed in with lappers. I was a little cautious, since l've had bad experiences with lapped traffic, but Rusty just powered up on the bank and passed me and the lappers." Meanwhile, Woods was just biding his time waiting for the riSht moment to make his move. "Bell made a minor mistake with some lappers, and lgot by him,'' Woods said. "lt worked out to my advantage, and I went to work on Rusty, I did the same thing and got by Holland and started pulling away and then my bike ran out of gas." Woods was running a stock tank and had banked the race would only go four laps. "when I didn't see the white flag on the third lap, I knew I was in trouble," Woods said. With Woods and Holland runninS in the top rwo positions and Bell dropping back to fifth towards the end, the race was on for third between the veteran Gordon Ward and the new kid on the block - Ricky Dietrich. "l was running third for the most ofthe race and dropped back to fifth," Dietrich said. "Then on the last lap, I iust turned it up. When Woods ran out of gas, I passed Wbrd and Bell with a quarter of a lap to go. I didn't know who Ward was at first, but he sure goes fast." Bell was also surprised to see Ward running so well out there. "Ward is really fast, but sneaky about lines. He cuts off corners and was coming out of the bushes and boonies to pass," Bell said. "\Men Dietrich got by me, it was a free-for-all among the lappers to the next comer. Ward cut it short, I cut it shorter, and Dietrich cut it shorter than both of us to pull into second overall. lt is so much fun riding with this many talented riders." Holland, who hails from Fresno, seemed stunned at the finish line when the checkered fla8 fell. "There were so many good ride6 out here today - I knew I had the speed, but I am so grateful lwon it," the CST/ O'Neal/Clausen Motorsports-backed Holland said. "This Big 6 course kicked my butt- lt was definitely gnarly, but I am so excited to be racing off-road-" Holland claimed his flrst off-road victo- ry in the Four-Stroke Heavyweight divi- sion, followed by the Carter Powersports/ ARC/Maxxis/Kawasaki-backed Dietrich, and the crafty Ward rounded out the podi- um in third. The 250cc Expert class was runninS at the same time as the Four-Stroke Heavyweights, and after iumping out in first place, KTM/FHFMife-sponsored Joey Lanza had a rude awakening at the scoring chute when he discovered that he was in second place. "l got the holeshot and a little later I saw Kendall Norman go by and thought 'no biggie - just another four-stroke,' and settled in for the race with.lustin Soule and David Rees." Lanza's KTM teammate David Rees knew better. 38 TEBRUARY 22,2N6 . CYCLE NEWS r .J $' ft.- €, ! L rl \ K ')] t L I {:* \, 6 a I , q -(, \ tl, 72 a -\ SroRy sy KaNDy THoRNToN PHoros Ey Toxy Lurrprxc I u J \\ \[ .l1t r"l n I I ll IIL --.] i