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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/262687
IN THE WIND P30 BOWERS, HAYES SHARE IDAHO AX WINS T yler Bowers and Jacob Hayes shared the spot- light during the fifth stop of the Amsoil Aren- across Series in Nampa, Idaho, February 14-15. Bowers, on the Babbitt's Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki, came away with the overall win Friday night and Hayes, on the TiLube/PBR/Tuf Racing Honda, Saturday night. Bowers, the defending Arenacross Champion, finished third behind Zach Ames and Michael Mc- Dade in the first of two main events on Friday night, but he came back to win the second race, followed by Ames and Kyle Regal. But Bowers' 3-1 put him one point behind Ames for the overall title, but a win earlier in the night in the head-to-head bracket racing earned Bowers one additional point, putting Bowers and Ames in a tie for the overall win for the night. But with the results of the second and final race used as a tiebreaker, Bowers was officially awarded overall winner status. Hayes, who did not compete the night before, topped the second night of racing, despite finish- ing third to winner Ames and Bowers in the open- ing race. He came back and won the second race, over Regal and Bowers to claim the overall victory. Ames finished fifth. After 11 races, Ames leads the cham- pionship by just three points over Bow- ers, 301-298. Hayes is third with 229. In the Eastern Regional Arenacross Lites class, Steven Mages and Daniel Blair came away with the wins. Mages won on Friday night and Blair Saturday night. Blair leads the championship over Mages by three points, 42-39. rider's confidence - you always knew what the tire was going to do in a variety of conditions. We fitted out a 2014 Yamaha YZ450F with the new rubber and was ex- pecting improved front-end feel. The MX32 front definitely deliv- ered. Cornering feel and perfor- mance was very noticeable and so much better that way, we actu- ally had to adjust suspension set- tings to compensate. The front end felt noticeably more glued to the corners. Out back the rear MX32 was also equally impressive offering a smooth feel and providing plenty of grip on both loose and hard conditions. We installed the MX52s on a 2014 Kawasaki KX250F and the results were the same - tons of traction and great feel. The rear MX52 performed as adver- tised on the hard-packed con- ditions, where it kept rubber on the ground down the straights and had minimal slide through corners. The MX52 front tire had solid predictable feel in the corners, but we seemed to feel more feedback in the bars and more movement than the MX32. Overall, both models per- formed better than any other Dunlop tire we've ever used. We were impressed to say the least. We anxiously want to spend more time with the new MX32 and 52 Dunlops and see how they hold up and perform over time. Jason Abbott Tyler Bowers (1) won on Friday night at the Idaho round of the Arenacross Series.