Cycle News

OFF ROAD GEICO AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4/AUGUST 23, 2014 GWINNETT CENTER ARENA/DELUTH, GEORGIA P90 My Own Race: 33 TAYLOR ROBERT 4TH PRO Factory KTM rider Taylor Robert is still trying in earnest to break into the top three this season and do battle with Bla- zusiak, Haaker and Webb. He nearly got there in Atlanta, where he challenged both Blazusiak and Haaker through- out the evening, but he still admits he is playing a little bit of catch up after dealing with an injury earlier this season. "I hit the handlebars really hard and lacerated my bowel in two places so they had to cut me open. I was in the hos- pital for a week. I'm 100 percent now, but I just lost a lot of cardio and muscle from being in the hospital and then not being able to eat or do anything for a while. I'm feeling a lot closer to 100 percent now than I was even at the last round. Tonight was pretty good. I had a pretty good heat, got the holeshot, and led the first four or five laps. I kind of bobbled in the Matrix and Taddy got around me. Then he bobbled and we had a pretty close race to the finish line, but he got me in the heat. In the main event, I think I came out of the second turn like fourth and then just worked my way into third and rode there for about half the race. That was one of the toughest EnduroCross races I've ever done." 7 KYLE REDMOND 6TH PRO "My night was alright," said Kyle Redmond, who is now considered one of the seasoned veterans of the AMA En- duroCross Series. "I'm going in the right direction. I've had some struggles this year. I was third in the heat race and got a direct transfer—you gotta love that. The main event was pretty good. It was 15 laps on a really hard track, so there were a lot of people crashing. I crashed a few times, managed to get sixth place. It's decent—my best finish of the year. I just got to go home and work harder and I've got to put more time in because these guys are getting crazy." Redmond was one of the few who did not consider the Atlanta course to be one of the toughest he's ridden. "I actually think Vegas was harder, honestly. Just the Matrix here was really difficult. To me Vegas had more obstacles." 767 KRISTIE MCKINNON 1ST WOMEN Australian trials rider Kristie McKinnon crushed it in the Women's main event. In only her fourth-ever EnduroCross event, McKinnon ran away with a commanding win in the Women's class—her first victory in the series. "It was a good night. I sort of came here not really expecting much— just came to ride and have a good time. But the track was pretty gnarly and the Christini All-wheel Drive was so well suited to that track. Everyone was getting stuck in the Ma- trix and that front wheel was pulling me through. In the main event I didn't really now where I was coming, I just all of a sudden, I was seeing the checkered flag. I was like, 'Holy hell, that's me! I think I might have just won this!' [laughs] It was a nice surprise because I don't know if I could have fallen over more times on that last lap if I tried!"

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